Teen Beasts
by Divineoverseer
Summary: When Theo comes to Beacon Hills, Stiles feels something is wrong but Scott doesn't believe him. The Dread Doctors also arrive and start turning people into creatures unlike any seen before, all to bring a savage monster to life. Scott does something to push Stiles to a breaking point; will it make him a beast or another monster? Sequel to Teen Survivors
1. Part 1

**Linkin Park ~ Numb**

I feel this song helps to set the tone for the developing feelings we've seen with Stiles and where it will take him.

A/N: This is not the first chapter but more a preface and summary of what's to come. The first official chapter will be posted on December 21, both the longest night of the year which just happens to be roughly the full moon this year. The perfect setting for this story I believe.

Since this season's story was so large that it took two parts to tell it, this story will be also split into two parts. Emotionally, the first part was where everything fell apart for the pack and the second part was everyone handling the aftermath. All on top of the enemies that they were facing. Yet, the ending won't be as neat and simple for everyone. If you've been reading my new Bestiary set, you might have an idea what is to come, especially for our wolfy brothers Scott and Stiles.

Also, we will see a side adventure for Derek, Cora and her new son Jason. Danger looms for them as they deal with the Alpha Oscar and his growing appetite for power. As he begins to try building his pack's power, his gaze begins to loom on the Hales. In the process of trying to protect themselves and baby Jason, Derek and Cora start to unravel more about Deucalion's past ambitions and find that it has ties to their father's death.

There will be characters we all know and some new original ones that we haven't seen yet or have already caught glimpses of before.

 **Chance Perdomo as Virgil Edelman**

 _The former "bad boy criminal" and street gang guy of Beacon Hills High that everyone avoided because of rumors surrounding his past when he moved there over two years previously. Now graduated and alone, he finds himself feeling stuck in a dead end rut as a mechanic in a garage run by a jerk, in this small town that he feels he's stuck in for the rest of his life. However, he has more depth than he would admit as well as some other hidden talent he himself isn't aware. And fate might come to see it either destroyed or realized one fateful full moon._

 **Jamie Dornan as Oscar**

 _The Alpha of the 'Pawshroud' Pack. Oscar has worked on establishing his position as the strongest and fiercest Alpha in the northeastern United States. Yet, he has started to have thoughts about extending that power to cover a much wider range. Oscar has begun to swell his pack starting with turning strong people, ones he sees built for war. He seeks to now have dominion over the whole eastern seaboard, and perhaps even be the reigning werewolf in the country. He feels that Cora Hale and her son may be the key to having all the power he needs to make that a reality and he won't let anything or anyone stop him. At first, his ambition could be chalked up to greed and lust for power but there might be a deeper meaning behind his desire._

 **Ryan Guzman as Charlie Harris**

 _Charlie is the among the newest people bitten by Oscar and inducted into his pack in his efforts to bolster its numbers. He is adjusting to this new change in his life though he is not too fond with his new Alpha and his tactics. As Charlie was in the army, he is used to dealing with hard asses. He is preparing for what Oscar says are hard times ahead and is ready for the war he predicts is going to be upon them all and he is resolved to help protect his new comrades and pack like a good soldier should. Yet, when Oscar starts to steer the pack in a shady direction, he wonders if he is going to be on the right side of this oncoming war._

 **Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Wilson Grant**

 _He serves as the Second of Satomi's pack and works as a security officer over at Devonford Preparatory. Wilson was the first one to be bitten and turned by Satomi after she turned to Buddhism._ _He is trusted and has the full respect from the members of his pack as well as both Stiles and Liam._ _While he believes in peace, he doesn't support pacifism as he is of the opinion that preaching for and making peace is useless unless you have the ability and resolve to keep it; especially given the events of the Deadpool. Loyal to Satomi, his pack, and fond of the ones who helped save them, he will do whatever it takes when trouble begins to brew for them all._

I hope you will like the story I have planned and I can't wait to hear your thoughts about what you hope to see and your predictions.


	2. Summer's End

Chapter 1: Summer's End

The town of Beacon Hills was enjoying a steady time of peace. Ever since it's resident pack of teenage werewolves, kitsune, werecoyote and banshee had conquered the Deadpool; along with defeating both Peter Hale and Kate Argent before having them sent to be locked up at Eichen House. Things in Beacon Hills had settled down into what could actually be considered 'normal'. The remaining few months of the school year had been without conflict or danger, at least of the life-threatening variety, but the typical teenage variety. Scott, Stiles, Lydia, Malia and Kira were able to finish their junior year, and Liam his freshman year, without anything more coming for them. When the summer started, that peace seemed to extend and everyone was ready to enjoy their last summer before their senior year started.

* * *

The woods were quiet, save for the four people running through them with breakneck speed. Liam was running with his former nemesis Brett Talbot, his sister Lori and with one of the security guards Liam remembered seeing patrol the halls of Devonford Prep, Wilson Grant. It turned out that the man was not only a werewolf but Satomi's Second. Grant was taking them to a pool party someone Liam knew back at Devonford had invited Brett and Lori to have some fun before school started back up tomorrow. They were able to bring friends and Lori had invited Liam and said he could bring Mason too if he wanted.

But Mr. Grant took a detour and stopped them out by the woods. He then told them to follow him before he started running off. The three young teenage werewolves didn't spare another moment as they ran off after him. Brett and Liam seemed to turn it into some kind of race, each one trying to keep ahead of the other. They kept it up the whole time before Wilson stopped them when they reached a stone outcropping. He then left them to look around.

"You actually kept up," Brett said as he folded his arms and smirked down at Liam.

"Yeah. Did you think I'd let you leave me in your dust?"

Brett shrugged. "Wouldn't be the first time," he said in an undertone but he made sure it was still loud enough for Liam to hear him perfectly.

That made Liam glare at him slightly and starting stomping for him but Lori moved to stand in between them.

"Guys," she said out in a warning kind of tone. "C'mon, play nice. We're all friends now." Liam and Brett gave her a look. "Whether you like it or not."

"Yeah, I'll go with not," Brett mumbled.

Liam snorted. "I'll second that."

A few months ago, Liam and Brett wouldn't have gone over a minute without moving to tear each other to pieces. But, with all that mess with the Deadpool, their packs had started working together and formed an alliance so they began seeing a lot more of each other. Even more so when Stiles started to take Satomi as a sort of werewolf tutor. He often had Liam tag along to try and help him learn better control now that he'd taken Satomi's Buddhist chant as one of his anchors. He would have friendly spars with some members of her pack though had to be pulled away a few times as his anger got the better of him, especially when matched up with Brett. Over the last few months, Liam and Brett gained a grudging respect for each other, but they would deny they did let alone call each other friends.

Lori rolled her eyes. "Fine, keep denying it if you two lunkheads want. _Boys_ ," she sighed to herself.

Liam let himself rest against a tree as he saw the man walking about the area, seemingly sniffing and feeling around. "How long is this going to take? I don't want to be too late. I can't stay there long."

"Why?" Lori asked him.

"Scott and Stiles want me to stay with them tonight so they could babysit me for the full moon." He folded his arms, feeling a bit annoyed.

She narrowed her eyes in confusion. "What? I thought you said last month that Scott gave you the okay for you to handle the night on your own. Without them having to restrain or watch you."

"Uh, yeah, there was kind of a…thing that happened during that night." His cheeks started to redden a bit.

"What? What happened to you?" she asked in concern.

Lori developed kind of soft spot for Liam. After he helped to save them all from the Deadpool by shutting it down, he became their hero. And…she couldn't help but think he was kind of cute.

"I don't want to talk about it," Liam said, turning away as his cheeks got even redder. It was bad enough that Scott, Stiles and the Sheriff knew. The last thing he wanted was for Brett to hear he prowled around town naked and have something new to lord over him. And he would be humiliated if Lori, a girl, found out. "Now, they don't trust me on my own again."

"And here we all thought your control was improving," Brett said, with a smirk.

"I just had an off night," Liam muttered with a bit of a bitter tone. He rose his head to look at Mr. Grant still checking out the ground around the small rock formation. "How long is Mr. Grant going to take? Mason said he was going to meet us there and I don't want him to think I stood him up. Thanks for inviting him too by the way. Something to distract him from trying to talk more about the Berserker he saw at the school."

Brett sighed. "It shouldn't take Wilson more than another minute or two."

"Why are we even here for? What's he doing?"

"He's just checking on something for Satomi," Lori answered for him.

Liam's eyebrows rose in interest. "Out here? What is it?"

"Oh, it's one of the perimeter markings," said Brett. "Satomi set it up years ago to mark this land as her territory."

"Mark it? For who?"

"Other packs and lone wolves." Wilson Grant was calmly walking back to them. "It lets any newcomers know that this area is under her protection. So, if they are here to cause trouble, it warns them that they'll have to answer to her."

Liam looked at the stone landmark. "What? I mean, how does it even work Mr. Grant?"

Mr. Grant smiled at him. "Liam, I think after everything that's happened in the last few months you could call me Wilson. As for the perimeter, go, take a look for yourself Liam. You'll understand soon enough."

Liam walked over to where the stones were and looked at where he saw that something seemed to be carved into the rock. It looked like a circle that had been cut into eight pieces.

"What's this?" asked Liam. "It looks like a pizza."

Wilson snorted. "It's called the Dharmachakra, or the Eight Spoke Wheel. It's a Buddhist sign," he explained to Liam. "Satomi took it for the symbol of her pack."

Liam then blinked as he detected something. A scent was in the air. He couldn't identify it but it made him feel a bit on edge, like he should be on guard and watch his step. "What is this?"

Wilson nodded. "You can feel it. Satomi left some of her Alpha chemo signature ingrained on it. Sort of like putting a Trespassers Beware of Dog sign on a fence." Will then shrugged as he chuckled to himself. "Which is kind of poetic if you think about it. It lets outside wolves know that an Alpha laid claim on this territory. They trespass at their own peril."

Liam felt a slight itch crawling up his skin. It made him want to turn around and get out of there. "Yeah, I think it works fine. So, what is it you're supposed to be checking?"

"If there were any new scents that passed through. The last thing we need is surprise and uninvited guests lurking about and trying to make trouble." He then shrugged. "But, I'm not picking up anything so we're done here. I'll tell Satomi after I finish dropping you three off."

The four of them then moved off to dash for the direction of where they had left the car. A minute after they left, the wind began to pick up. The stray leaves on the ground began to flap really hard into the air as the air crackled with sparks. Three pairs of dark rubber boots were stomping up to the marker. The next moment, the stone started cracking before abruptly exploding into hundreds of pieces. The three then walked off, the middle one stepping on a stone slab that contained the Buddhist wheel, and stepped off it to reveal it now broken.

* * *

A punching bag was being hit with quick and sure blows, a hard breath being hissed every strike. The one hitting it was a dark skinned young man and he was building both momentum and sweat as he assaulted the bag like it insulted him. Virgil Edelman. He then gave a shout as he slammed his whole forearm into the bag and leaned on it as he took large puffs and rested his sweaty brow against it. He slowly turned his head to gaze on a hung picture of himself standing with a man and an elderly woman. All three were smiling at the camera. He looked at it for a moment before he let out a heated sigh and hit the bag with one last fist, pushing himself away from it.

He went off to take a shower and was soon drying his hair after he finished putting on some pants along with a Beacon Hills High T-shirt on. Virgil may have graduated two months ago but he liked the look of the shirt, even if he hadn't liked his time at the school. He moved to go and pour himself some cereal as he went to turn on the TV to watch the weather. He saw that there was going to be some heavy rain late tonight. Luckily, he knew he would be home and wouldn't be caught out in it.

Then his phone rang and he moved to pick it up.

"Virgil here," he answered.

" _Hey Virge,_ " he heard his boss' voice say on the other end.

"Virgil," he quickly bit out. He didn't like anyone calling him that.

" _Right, Virgil. Well listen, I'm going to need you to cover into the late night shift tonight._ "

"Late night?"

" _Yeah, I'm sorry but I don't have anyone else._ "

"Okay," Virgil said slowly. "I could actually use some actual overtime for a change."

" _Uh, about that,_ " his boss' voice said hesitantly.

"Really? This is the third time. I thought you said you wouldn't keep asking me to work extended shifts without pay the last time."

The man let out a heated sigh. " _I know what I said Virgil, and I'm sorry. But the full moon's tonight and you've seen how this night's been lately. Accidents have spiked on this night over the last year and a half so this is an emergency. More yahoos are coming out and getting behind the wheel in this town and the garage could use the extra business._ "

Virgil clenched his fist at his side but ungripped it. "I'll be there." He barely managed to get that out with a straight voice.

" _Thanks Virgil. Look, I'll make it up to you. A full repair, free of charge. All on me. Cash it in anytime you want_."

"Yeah, I appreciate it." Vigil then ended the call and almost slammed the phone down. "Ass," he muttered and he moved to dig his face into the palms of his hands.

A part of him understood why his boss couldn't get more help. Ever since his last night mechanic was killed when a car impaled him, two of his other three mechanics had quit and moved to other places. When he had been looking for work during his senior year, he had been quickly hired as he hadn't been able to find anyone that was willing to work where one died so hideously. But ever since he graduated, his boss was now pushing the extra hours on him, knowing that Virgil couldn't just quit. Honestly, he didn't want to. Virgil actually liked working on cars and fixing them up. It was the people that tended to drive them that he had problems with.

He went to shut the television off as it got to talk of some road work that would sure to cause traffic to pile back into town later tonight. In the horizon there was a thick cloud cover that seemed to be heading for them and would be arriving soon. Perhaps tonight, as the news said.

"Stupid town," he muttered, before clicking the remote and making the screen go black.

Virgil had lived here for a little over two years now, since his father had moved them here so they could live with his grandmother. He loved them but he felt coming here was another step in the down spiral that was his life. Now, some days he felt he was doomed to just wallow here for the rest of his life. Then again, where could he go? It wasn't like there was anything else out there for him, or anyone.

His hand brushed up against a small ornate box next to it. His finger moved to trace over the patterns of a tree carved into it.

Virgil shrugged his shoulders. "It _is_ a full moon…why the hell not," he sighed out.

Picking up the box, he moved over to the table and set it down. He pulled up his armchair and sat down before he went to remove the lid and reveal a pack of cards inside. He gazed at the symbol of a pentagram over a sun and moon was on the back of each one of them.

"Never got to use them without grandma here." After staring at them for a moment, his eyes drifted over to a picture of the old woman from before, his late grandmother. Her face smiling though her eyes seemed pointed at the same time. "Okay, just remember the rules," he said to himself as he gazed at the woman's smiling face. "Don't look directly at the cards as you shuffle and place them." He imagined hearing that woman's voice speaking with his own just now.

He took a deep breath and then brought them out. He kept his gaze forward as his hands moved to cut and shuffle them on the table's surface. When the deck was fully shuffled, he looked back at the woman's picture again.

"Right grandma?" Hearing her voice, he lightly mumbled the next set of rules he remembered hearing like it was yesterday. "No financial or personal gain and be prepared for any kind of answer, good or bad." He then cleared his throat and took a deep breath. Then he began to speak clearly. "With summer ending, how are things going to shape up around here?" It was his first time not having go back to school now as his academic life ended with high school.

A small breeze began to flow through the open window making him flinch a bit as he rubbed at some goosebumps that formed on this forearm. He then moved to draw the first card on the top of the deck and placed it face down on the table directly in front of him. After a moment, he then flipped and revealed it.

His eyes widened. "Huh," he said a little surprised. The card depicted a giant golden wheel etched with runes that was surrounded by three beings, but the card was upside down. "The Wheel of Fortune…reversed." The meanings of the Wheel of Fortune card in this position started to come back to him from lessons that came from what felt a lifetime ago. "Something's going to happen, or maybe it's already started. It's something big. And something bad," he muttered.

There was flickering from the light of a nearby lamp for a moment as the light dimmed out.

"Bad changes, havoc incoming and resisting the inevitable," Virgil listed before sighing to himself. "That doesn't tell me much. Wait…I asked how things are going to shape up around here." He then slumped back into his armchair and let his thumbs press against his eyelids. "Maybe that was too broad. Wasted my one personal question for the month. Still, I wish I knew what all this was about and who. I know it can't be about me." He then shook his head. "Ah, this is silly anyways."

He then moved to put the tarot card he drew back in the deck and pack them up. Yet, the blown lamp suddenly sent out a spark which startled him. His fingers fumbled and two cards fell from the bottom of the deck and landed out on the floor. Virgil ran over to pull the plug out to make sure that a fire didn't start. He then moved to put the tarot cards back but noticed the two dropped cards. He reached down to pick them up but noticed how they had fallen. They were side by side and they were revealed to him. One was depicting a jester wearing a vacant expression walking towards an edge, but the card was upside down. The other was of a cloaked wizard in front of a table of tools holding a wand under an infinity sign.

He picked up the cards, one in each hand to look at them, his eyes somewhat far off. "The Fool, reversed. And the Magician." He blinked his eyes at them. "I swear I've seen two together like this before."

His watch then started to beep to signal the new hour and he shook himself out of it. He moved to go and change before grabbing his bike helmet.

* * *

A grand house stood close to the treeline that led right into the Beacon County Preserve and forest. In that house was a young man sitting across a much older woman in one of its grand rooms next to an open patio door that gave them a good view of that forest's tree line.

Stiles moved the cup of hot tea to his lips and took a quick sip before he turned his attention back to the game board in front of him. He thought for a moment before he went and moved to place his black stone. He then took a white stone and placed it to the side.

Satomi nodded at the board. "Good move. You're a much better player than I had anticipated."

"Thanks." Stiles moved to lean back into his chair. "I guess my time with that demented fox in my head was good for something."

They were sitting in the study of Satomi's home. The glass patio door nearby was wide open and a nice breeze was flowing in with the gentle smell of the nearby trees and moisture from the predicted storm front for later that night.

The Alpha smiled gently at him. "I must say Stiles, I didn't think that we would spend your visit playing Go in my study. Not that I'm complaining. I don't get to play Go as often as I would like. But, I would've expected that you would've wanted to do something more productive since it's your last day of summer. Brett, Lori and my other young betas are all out having fun and enjoying their final day of freedom from homework and tests. You want to spend your last day playing with an old woman."

Stiles rose his eyebrow at her. "You're not that old Satomi."

"I'm 97 years old," she said, in a blunt tone.

He blinked a bit. "Uh...well you don't look a day over 50 to me." His cheeks went a little pink. Satomi lightly chuckled at him. "And, you kick some hard butt for someone shy of a hundred. And then some," he said, subconsciously reaching to rub at his arm. "Can you blame me for forgetting your age." He tried to sound flattering though he sound pretty weak to his own ears.

"Thank you," Satomi said as she couldn't help but feel flattered.

After the mess in Mexico, Stiles decided that being closer and developing relations with some werewolves from a nearby pack might not be such a bad idea. Having allies had helped them all during the Deadpool and could only keep helping them in the long run. Satomi would be a strong ally, as would the members of her pack, and Stiles knew that they could be trusted. Especially now that Derek and Braeden had left Beacon Hills and after that whole thing with Peter, Stiles felt they would need allies like them.

So, Stiles had been taking to visiting Satomi then and again. Even more when summer started. He came, along with Liam. He felt that she could help Liam to learn some better control, now that her Buddhist motto was one of his anchors. Satomi had been honored to hear that and she was glad to help. She put Liam through some sparring drills against some of her betas to try and help him gain control while thick in the heat of stressful situations and reign his wolf in when control became fickle. Most of those times being when he went up against Brett. After a short while, she started inviting Stiles to participate. He sparred against some of her betas, including Brett, Wilson who was her Second, and even a few times against Satomi herself. How he fared against her pack varied, sometimes he would win and sometimes he would lose. But against Satomi and her matrix like moves, she always left him lying with aches that took a couple of hours to heal from.

Stiles leaned back into his chair. "I felt for my last day of summer, I should just relax. Nothing too crazy and just enjoy some friendly company. Though, when school starts up again, I don't think there will be as many visits. And I've liked coming here the last couple of weeks."

"It's not just you that enjoys your visits. Reminds me of old times with Talia and her family." She smiled at him. "Just know that you, Liam, and the rest of your friends are welcome here." She then moved to take a sip of her tea.

Stiles took a look at his slightly emptied cup. "I have to say though, I don't think I have much of a taste for Reshi tea. I think I'm more of a coffee person."

That made Satomi make a small face after she finished taking her sip. "I've never been very fond of coffee myself." She then set her cup down. "Still, if you wanted some friendly and relaxing company, why are you not hanging around with Scott today?"

Stiles sighed. "He had to go to the hospital today. It's his last day working his internship."

She nodded. "Yes. College would seem much more closer for those in their Senior Year. Speaking of, what do you have planned?"

"Well, I'm checking out schools like Berkeley and others in the general area. I'm looking into becoming a detective."

Stiles couldn't see himself being anything else. Kate Argent was now rotting away in that special wing in Eichen House and would be for a very _long_ time and he had stopped her from getting away. He had helped lock her up, and it had felt good. He technically had caught and locked up his first real nut job. He couldn't help but feel a sense of pride and achievement at all of that and if that's what his dad felt like all the time then he could understand the pride and respect he had in his job.

Satomi could sense the underlying pride starting to sift out of him. "Oh I see, planning to go into law enforcement like your father? Yes, I see you having the right temperament for it. Sorting through clues and putting pieces together to complete the puzzle." Satomi leaned back a bit. "Do you mind me making a suggestion?" Stiles shook his head. "Look into taking some interest in Psychology as well. You can detect emotions but understanding how and why people have them and when, it could help in deducing motives and intentions which could only help in figuring and placing pieces of the puzzle."

"Oh...yeah, I'll think about taking a look."

Stiles then stopped talking as he suddenly turned to look out in the horizon, towards the woods. A sullen look came over his face.

"Something wrong?"

Stiles absently rubbed spirals on the table as he stared off. He kept looking out towards the trees as his eyes started to narrow a bit. His nerves were all lit up and he felt tense. Stiles felt like he was being watched.

"Stiles?"

The boy shook shook his head and looked over at Satomi as she was looking at him with concern.

"Sorry," he muttered.

Satomi looked off in the direction of the trees herself. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"No...nothing's wrong." He tried to wave it off. "It's my move, right?"

Stiles moved to place his next stone but his hand was grabbed mid-motion by Satomi and she was looking at him with a mad glint in her eye.

"Stiles, you know full well that I know you're lying. So please, don't insult my intelligence." The Alpha's tone was calm but stern and it made Stiles sigh as he dropped his stone back in his pot. "You're still feeling on edge, aren't you?"

Stiles nodded.

Almost two weeks into summer, Stiles' nerves began to feel on edge a good deal of the time. It felt as if danger was lurking nearby and would be coming for him, yet everything continued to remain quiet and peaceful all summer long. Still, he told everyone to be careful just the same. Scott said that they would always be careful but suggested that maybe Stiles was too used to being alert and suspicious to feel comfortable when things were quiet for too long. When he told Satomi of his feelings she assured him that she and her pack would keep their eyes open. She told him that she was making regular checks along the perimeter of her territory but Stiles felt she was really doing it just to humor him.

"I don't know why. I mean, I shouldn't, right?" he confessed. "These last few months, it's been quiet. Peaceful, no dead bodies just turning up and no psychos, natural or supernatural. We won State again, I aced all my finals and helped Malia to pass hers too. Then when summer came, it just kept going on. So...why do I feel like there's something wrong?"

"I think only you can answer that Stiles. Have you been getting enough sleep recently?" she asked, concerned.

"I never get enough sleep," Stiles huffed out.

After saying that, Satomi gave him a sad look but it vanished after a moment. She looked back to the trees. "What happened a moment ago."

He shook his head. "Uh, I just had a feeling...like it felt that I was being watched. I don't know, maybe I'm worrying over nothing."

"Maybe not," she muttered to herself.

But Stiles had heard it. "Huh?" he quickly asked her.

She then moved to raise her voice a bit. "Stiles, I can't say if you're right to worry or not. But, it's been my experience that in situations where nothing has happened, it doesn't necessarily mean nothing will happen. If you are feeling this strongly about it then it would do well to be aware of what is happening around you. But, be careful that you don't become obsessed with what that may or may not be. You will only drive yourself mad."

Stiles rolled his eyes out at her. "Yeah, I think many people would tell you that it might be a little too late for me there Satomi."

That made Satomi break into a small chuckle and even Stiles cracked a small amused smile.

"Speaking of late, I think its about time for you to leave or you will be."

Stiles checked his watch. "Yeah, you're right, I better get going. Thanks for the game, and the tea."

"Wait." Satomi then left the room for a moment and was soon walking back with a small jar of Reshi mushrooms. "Just in case," she said as she handed them over.

"Thank you," he said as he took her gift.

Stiles silently nodded to her and held his hand out to her. But except for shaking it like he expected, Satomi moved over and gave him a small hug. Stiles was surprised for a moment but relaxed into it a second before she let go. She watched as he made to leave with calculating eyes. She found that Stiles had a very strong sense of instinct, especially for danger, greater than she'd seen in most werewolves. She supposed as he once was meant to ascend and become a Beast, it shouldn't be that surprising. If his sense of danger was steadily growing, and he feels like he is being watched, then perhaps she wasn't the only one that was observing him. Someone that might've been doing so discreetly enough to not raise any alarms. Not with her, Scott or Deaton, but Stiles might subconsciously be sensing them. Which meant that whomever or whatever it was, most likely could be quite dangerous. She would tell Wilson and the others to keep a vigilant eye out, especially when around Scott, Stiles and their friends. As she moved to begin cleaning, Satomi noticed that Stiles had lightly scratched something in her table.

Stiles got into his jeep and he turned the key where heard his engine give a choppy sort of sound as it didn't start. He sighed before looking at the roll of tape he had ready on the dash. Stiles tried turning the key two more times before it finally started. He sighed in relief and then pulled out to begin to head off for home.

As the jeep passed down the road, a wolf suddenly pounced into the center of the road from the thick of the trees. It turned its head to watch the car's distancing dust trail with a calculating gaze. The wolf's hungry eyes had a golden glint as it watched the jeep dust trail get further away.

* * *

Scott was wheeling a small cart of used sheets and bedpans off for the washroom. He moved to adjust light blue scrubs he was wearing at the collar as he began to wheel it into the room.

"Got the last of them Cole," he called out as he moved on in.

The orderly nodded as he made a check on the clipboard he was holding. "Thanks Scott. Wheel them over there," he said pointing to the side as he moved to finish his notes. He then looked at his watch. "So, you're heading out?"

"Yeah, I have some things to do tonight before I head off to Senior Scribe Night."

Cole the orderly smiled. "Yes, I remember the tradition. Well, have fun."

Scott smiled back. "Oh, I will."

Cole then moved to extend his hand to him. "I'm going to miss you around Scott. It was great having you around here for more than just visiting your mother."

Scott's smile flattened a bit but he was still smiling slightly as he moved to return the handshake. "Yeah, I really liked working here."

"Even if it was cleaning up after the patients?" the man asked cheekily.

Scott shrugged. "Any way I can help."

The man nodded. "And good luck this year. I hope you get in to the school that you want. I'll be crossing my fingers for ya."

"Thanks Cole."

Scott then moved to head to the men's locker room so he could change into his normal clothes. He couldn't believe that summer was really over now. Especially after so much going on right now, things that thankfully had nothing to do with people dying or things coming to kill him and his friends. Since Mexico, Scott tried to settle back into his normal life again. Trying to keep his grades up and being the co-captain for the lacrosse team.

Being Co-captain this year turned out to be so much more enjoyable having Stiles as his fellow co-captain than it did with Jackson last year. Together, they were able to help Kira get a better hang of lacrosse and keep Liam from getting too crazy when things got too hot as they played. Stiles had also come up with an idea to try and change how their team played by rotating some players from first line and a few that regularly stayed on the bench instead of just keeping the same people from start to finish like they always had. Scott was quickly on board with that idea as it kept less of their teammates from getting worn out and hurt in the long run and made their players outside 1st line more important. They both knew what it was like to just be feeling useless being stuck to the bench the whole season. Ultimately, they were not only able to make State again, but win for the 2nd time in a row.

Scott just wished that his school work was just as great for him to celebrate. He did manage to pass all his classes but his grade in Science was not very impressive. Back when all the craziness with the Deadpool was going on, Scott hadn't really been studying as much as he would've liked. When they got some breathing room, he found the work getting harder towards finals. A lot of the stuff was confusing and he was mostly trying to get it all by himself. Stiles was busy trying to help Malia as she was having more trouble than he was and trying to be able to pass junior year and Lydia was spending more and more time with Parrish. He and Kira tried to study together but they usually wound up getting distracted halfway with each other a good deal of the time. When the school had its College Fair, with many colleges setting up their booths and sending their representatives, Scott found himself to be drawn to one school's in particular. That was why he was here now, working as an intern.

Scott sighed as he could still remember he and his mom talking about it at home, after the fair.

 _"UC Davis? That's a good school," his mom had said when she heard his choice._

 _"It's great. It has a great biology science program."_

 _"You're interested in biology?" His mother was surprised._

 _Scott nodded. "I've decided I want to try to be a vet. Working at the clinic I've helped Deaton help and heal many hurt and sick animals. I love it and I want to keep doing that."_

 _Melissa's face lit up at that. "That's great honey." Her face then fell a bit. "But Scott, Davis may have the classes you want but we may not have the money to allow you to go. You see, I might have gotten a raise at the hospital and while it helps to better cover our bills, it won't cover them and your tuition at the same time."_

 _Scott had been shocked but ecstatic to have come back from Mexico to news that his mother had been offered a raise at the hospital, as had a few others including Liam's stepfather. Apparently, a grateful patient had donated a lot of money to the hospital because its staff saved their life. They remembered seeing his mother, Liam's stepfather and a few others when they had been hurt during one of their crisis' though they didn't say which one it was or who they were and the board didn't seem to have asked. But, the hospital staff didn't seem to care about that. With this new boost to her salary there was starting to be some slow but good and steady change to making the house payments. Water, gas, power, car and food payments started to not bring as much grievance to his mother as before and Scott was happy to see some burden lift off her. Yet, they now have a new one._

 _"Maybe I can ask Deaton for more hours this summer?" Scott had suggested. "And if my PSAT score is good enough then maybe I can find some kind of scholarship."_

 _But his mom held her hand up to him. "Scott, it's not just about money. You've barely managed a C average in some classes and it's this year that colleges look at. These special kind of college courses will fill up first with people that have A's and then B's. You might have to look into going to summer school again to try and raise them up to qualify just for that. And a scholarship? Scott, they look to offer those to students that have AP classes. If you want to try and get one, you'll have to try and make one these classes first, and you can't with your current grades."_

 _Scott knew that there were AP courses offered to seniors. Stiles had told him how he got into AP English and Math while the few classes Lydia still needed to graduate were all AP. Most seniors were taking at least one but Scott knew his grades weren't as high as he needed, especially in Science._

 _"Well, maybe with school I can volunteer over at the hospital. You know, as a student intern. Colleges and Scholarships like that kind of stuff, don't they?"_

 _His mom shook her head. "Scott, it's a nice thought but you're not going to have the time for summer school, taking more hours at the clinic and interning. You're going to have to seriously cut some corners this summer."_

 _"Yeah," h_ _e sighed. Summer school was something he couldn't afford to cut but this would be the second summer in a row that he needed it for raising his GPA. "And last summer I promised that this year was going to be different. I tried, I really did."_

 _"I know," his mom nodded. "I saw that you were really making an effort. But, to be fair, you had to deal with a lot in the last year," she lightly pointed out. Scott smiled sadly at her. She then let her gaze drop down to the floor. "Scott, sit down."_

 _Scott could suddenly smell the anxiety pouring out of her. "Mom?" he asked in concern._

 _She waited for him to sit down across from her before she started speaking again._

 _"I've been doing some thinking. For a while now, since we first started having trouble with the house." She then paused for a moment. "Maybe…it might be best to try and look into finding a new place," she managed to force out. "Maybe something smaller and more affordable."_

 _His face began to fall. "Wait, you mean…you want to give up the house?"_

 _"I think its an option that we should really consider. We could look for a nice apartment downtown. Maybe one closer to the hospital or the animal clinic. It would definitely save on gas costs and we wouldn't have as many bills to worry about at once and that could help in saving up for you to go to college."_

 _Scott shook his head and stepped over to her. "Mom, we don't have to give up the house. I can find another way to make tuition. I could look into having an on campus job during the semester. I hear that colleges actually cut tuition costs down-"_

 _"Scott," his mother cut him off. His face fell a bit in confusion and she sighed as she paced off a bit. "I'm proud of the fact that you always think there can be a way to work through problems without forcing anyone to give anything up but, this time, that just might not be an option."_

 _She paused as she let herself meet her son's eyes._

Scott finished pulling his shirt on as the memory finished passing through his mind. To be honest, Scott had tried his hardest not to think about that all summer. He wanted to make sure he never heard any of it again. That house had been there for him and his mom ever since they first came to Beacon Hills so long ago. So many bad things have happened in all those years: the divorce, a lay off scare at the hospital, Scott getting turned and all the brushes with death, with some of them dying. They've suffered through and lost so much. Yet, through all of that, they've had this house to go back to and fall on. So much work, smiles and tears were put into this place. He recalled when he took his father and pointed out all the marks and places in the house where accidents had happened. And there were things that weren't accidents now too. It was the only real home he'd known. Scott didn't want to add losing his home to the list of losses.

He never felt so motivated to study and push his GPA as high as he could in his summer classes. It had ultimately paid off because he got an email from the school telling him that he now was qualified to take an AP class. He managed to grab the last spot for AP Biology. And, if he studied enough and aced the SAT, he might better his chances for having a shot at a decent sized academic scholarship. He also was looking at sports scholarships as well. UC Davis had a lacrosse team but he found it was a woman's team so there was no scholarships to be had there. But there was a cross country team so he could try looking into something for that.

He made a new promise. To be able to make tuition without his mom having to resort to the drastic measure of giving up their house.

As for the internship, it turned out that Scott had the time for it as well. Deaton had told Scott that he couldn't give Scott more hours as business at the clinic was slow during the summer since most families took their pets to kennels when they went off for vacation. This summer in particular, seemed slower than usual and he felt that Scott might be able to fill the extra time he had with an internship at the hospital. His mother helped him get his name down for the program and he was there with two others from the high school, another senior and a junior.

But, it was over now. It was time for him to hurry home and clean himself up. After all, soon he needed to go and meet up with Stiles and Liam for later tonight.

* * *

Noah Stilinski was in his kitchen, navigating through the envelopes that came in the mail. Just the usual bills but he felt comfort in the fact that none of them were stamped with any notice warnings. Noah could remember how it had been not too long ago. How bleak he felt things were every time he would go through the piles of notice stamped envelopes. While things weren't exactly perfect in terms of paying for bills, the envelopes were laden with notice stamps like they had been a couple of months ago. Now though, along with the regular bills, there were also college brochures and application forms coming in with the mail. He was helping to separate the junk mail ones from the relevant ones for Stiles to look at later.

It was his son's senior year. After this year, Stiles would be going off to college and he was looking to see how he could help his son cover the costs for it. There had been the standard College Fair at the high school a few weeks after the mess in Mexico and Stiles had looked into academic scholarship awards and had gone to the school counselor for help as well. Stiles apparently went and put his name down for as many of them as he could find in his effort to do anything to lower the cost for tuition as much as possible. It was overkill but his counselor had informed him that as his grades had a history of always being high, and also an extracurricular, there was a good chance of perhaps even winning a full ride. Noah was proud to hear the news. Stiles was excited about that and soon started talking about finding a place where he and Scott could live close to their respective campuses.

That last thought made Noah sigh sadly to himself. He could see that his son didn't want to consider the possibility that life could very well go on and pull him, Scott, Lydia, Malia and Kira in different directions. Stiles was looking into schools solely in the San Francisco area. Scott and Kira had their eyes on universities in the UC district and Stiles was confident that Lydia could get into any one that she wanted. So, he wanted to find a school that would let him be close to all of them. His son claimed that he a vision of them continuing to take on whatever comes at them together just like they were right now. Noah tried talking to Stiles about his own friends from high school, how they had ended up going their separate ways, but that only seemed to invigorate Stiles to hold onto his 'vision' for the future even tighter. But he could start to see that some might already be ready to begin slipping from Stiles' grasp.

A few weeks ago, Henry Tate had come to see him while their kids were off on one of their date nights. Malia wasn't sure what she wanted to do. College didn't seem to have much interest for her whatsoever. Seeing as how the girl spent most of her life as a coyote until over half a year ago, it was understandable. Henry was worried his daughter might be forced to follow along Stiles' path instead of being able to choose her own, all in the name of keeping things as they were. Noah was concerned for that too and knew that Stiles would never want to do that to her. Or that Malia wouldn't want Stiles to jeopardize his own future for her sake either.

To be honest, Noah didn't want to press too much. Senior year was supposed to be something for these kids to enjoy. To take in and enjoy being with your friends and enjoy the last year you all were still kids, together. God knows they've all earned it.

Noah found an envelope that had a university stamp but seemed thicker than usual. It was from Georgetown University. He didn't remember Stiles saying anything about looking up this school, or any on the opposite side of the country, and decided to open it and check out what it was. His eyes widened as he read on. But when he heard a familiar jeep pull up into the driveway, he folded the papers up and set them back down.

"Stiles?" he called out after the door opened.

"Yeah," Stiles panted, stepping into the kitchen and nodding to his father. "I thought you would've already left for work."

"Oh, I'm going in another hour. At around sunset."

"Sunset?"

Noah raised his eyebrows at him. "Don't think you're the only one that keeps track of full moons around here anymore."

Stiles nodded. "Ah, well I have to get ready myself. There's a long night ahead of us."

"Yes there is."

It was Senior Scribe Night. All of the seniors would be gathering at the school around midnight for the traditional event. Stiles had been looking forward to it for the last couple of days. The official start of senior year began for all of them at midnight.

"I'm just going to get cleaned up and grab the chains for Liam."

Noah shook his head. It amazed him that he hardly blinked after hearing something like that now.

"Well, make sure he stays out of trouble. You're lucky I was able to whip up a believable explanation for what happened last month."

"How did you explain that anyway?" Stiles asked him.

The man shrugged. "Drunk teens on a bender."

* * *

Cora was turning the key and opening the door right before a wonderful smell filling her nose.

"Smells good," she said, stepping in and hanging her bag on one of the hooks by the door.

She moved off for the kitchen and found her brother by the stove, over a simmering pot of stew.

Derek turned to look at her. "Do you have to sound so surprised every time?" he rolled his eyes at her, but the jest was clear in his voice.

After what happened in Mexico, Derek had grabbed all the things he had ready from his loft in Beacon Hills and headed straight to upstate New York as quick as he could. He traveled to Maggie's home and was greeted immediately with a good and solid punch to the face from his sister as soon as she locked her sights on him. It was then followed by a tight and fierce hug as she exploded on him for nearly letting Kate kill him, again. As he rubbed at his cheek while she squeezed him, Derek looked up and was getting an amused smile from Maggie. Their eyes locked for a moment and they found themselves looking down at the same time. When that was all done with, he then went off to see his new nephew, Jason Boyd Hale. Derek was happy to see that Cora named him in honor of their father and his fallen beta.

After about a week, Derek and Cora decided that they should look into getting a place of their own. Maggie told them that she didn't mind them staying with her but the Hales siblings felt it was the best thing. Cora felt like she had imposed herself on Maggie enough after Derek had left her there for all those months and Maggie had done more than enough. As for Derek, he felt it was time to start taking care of his own family instead of having others do it for him as well as having space to sort out his personal and complicated feelings between her and Braeden. They found a nice condo in the next town over 15 miles away. It had more than enough room for the three of them.

Cora moved to sit down at the table nearby. "I can't help it. I don't remember you being much of a cook growing up."

"Well, I kind of had to learn after-" He trailed off and turned to frown down at the pot and stirred it. He then blinked his discomfort away and cleared his throat. "So, how was work today?

Derek had encouraged Cora to start trying to pursue some grade of normalcy now that they settled here. He arranged for her to take an evaluation test for her GED and was surprised when she passed with flying colors.

 _"All that time I was off on my own in South America and all these months with Maggie, did you think I had been just sitting on my hands?"_ she had asked him incredulously.

He wisely hadn't answered. For the summer, she had gotten a job at the community center as a lifeguard.

"Yeah, it was fine. No one drowned though we did have close call when a nine year old almost barfed in the pool. What about you? Did he give you any trouble?"

"No, Jay was an angel. Which is surprising, given his mother," he commented half-heartedly. He took very much to his nephew and quickly gave him the nickname.

"Ha ha," Cora said, in a monotone voice.

The stew was just about finished and Derek moved to get some bowls for them and they heard a soft moan with their wolf ears. Thanks to their hyper hearing, they didn't need to get baby monitors as they would always know when the baby would need them. They both moved off for the nursery and headed for the crib.

Jason was dressed in baby blue baby overalls in deep blue booties and a matching blue cap. He was currently putting his mouth on the ear of his stuffed wolf toy. The beginning of three teeth could be seen making their way onto his gums. His eyes looked up to gaze at them. They smiled as they watched him keep gnawing on the toy that Derek had gotten him.

"Hey Jason," Cora mumbled softly. "Did you miss me?"

She moved to pick him up and rock him in her arms.

"I'll go and have the stew finished and ready," Derek told her before leaving.

As Cora swayed him in her arms, she saw Jason's eyes fall over to the wall on the side, where there was a small framed picture hanging. Jason's deep brown eyes stared at it before he yawned and leaned to cozy into his mother's warmth.

Cora turned to look at the drawing of a ship sailing on what seemed to be stormy waters. It had been with the box of Laura's things that Derek brought back with him from Beacon Hills. Derek had forgotten it was there and almost threw it away when Jason, who had been crying at the time, calmed at the sight of it. He seemed to like it so Cora decided to keep it for the baby's room and placed it into a nursery themed frame. She had to admit, she grew to like it herself and could understand why Laura must've kept it around. She wondered who had drawn it for her as the only writing on it was the word Mischief on the ship.

* * *

It was passing dusk in Beacon Hills and the town's street lights lit up.

Outside a condemned house, the three figures that destroyed the marker, were standing side by side as they solemnly stared at it. Each of them were donned in dark trench coats, wearing them over steam powered mechanisms, and had their faces completely covered up with giant metallic head masks.

"The subject is almost ready to emerge," the one to the far left, the Geneticist, said in a distorted and muffled voice. "Sooner than calculated."

The one to the right, the Pathologist, looked over to the one in the middle. He spoke with his own distorted and muffled voice through his mask. "Too soon. Probability is high for his condition to be unreliable."

The middle figure, the Surgeon, brandished his cane down to hit the ground. "We wait." His voice was deeper and the most distorted of the three. "Observe, evaluate and collect the data. It may prove instructive."

"What of Subject 1?" asked the Geneticist. "His use for the new subject?"

"Negligible," replied the Surgeon. "The primary objective is priority over all."

* * *

Virgil was sitting in a chair by the giant metal door of the shop in his work overalls. He had been left on his own at the garage while his boss took their tow truck out to answer a call of a car swerving off the side of the road and getting stuck in a ditch. There weren't any customers or cars in right now so he was left alone with his thoughts. The only thing to distract him were the stray cars passing by the shop and stopping at the light. To curb his boredom, Virgil had his tarot deck on hand and every time a car was passing by or stopping, he would draw a card and look at it with a bored look on his face.

A station wagon was in his line of sight as he went and drew a card after shuffling them. He looked at it with little interest. "Loving person but struggles with what to do with his life."

Behind that car pulled in a convertible where he could make out what seemed to be a middle aged woman. He let his eyes fall on the back of her head as she waited for the light to change so she could go on. He quickly shuffled his deck and drew another card. "Hard working and not afraid to take risks," he mumbled to himself as he saw her card. "Good on her."

A few minutes later, a minivan was passing by and he drew another. Looking at the card, he rolled his eyes. "A douche canoe. Enough said."

The tarot cards were his only real distraction here on these kind of nights as the wifi connection at the garage was weak and slow. Even if at times he did find them stupid, they were his grandmother's. He sighed as he thought of her, and his father. Of what had happened to them a little over a year ago. That trail of thought made him set his tarot cards down a little more roughly than he had intended. So rough, that the deck fell off the side of his little side table. "Damn," he said as they fell.

The cards spilled on the floor just as a hard wind blew by. One of the cards went and flew off out of the garage's front gate and Virgil went after it. These cards were all he had left of his grandmother and as silly as he found them sometimes, he didn't want to lose a single one. The wind was carrying it off as it flapped in the wind before it landed on the curb of the street, next to some brush. Virgil ran and quickly dropped down to it, in case the wind blew it off again. He picked it up and saw that it was The Death card. He heard a small sound and he then lifted his head to look into the darkness of the tree brush in front of him. He then looked around to find that he had gone to a dark corner of the street, almost half a block away. He found himself moving to quickly head back for the auto shop as fast as he could as he started to feel a deep chill, despite it being very warm tonight. He never liked The Death card, ever since his grandmother drew it for him during his first reading when he first moved to Beacon Hills. She said that it would mark his literal doom.

What he didn't know was, that in one month, he would be back at that same spot, staring death in the face. And the jaws.

* * *

A/N: Well, I hope you liked the first chapter of the story. Things are already taking shape for what will be the strongest and life-altering challenge our favorite teen pack encounters yet. And, introducing two new characters, Virgil Edelman and Wilson Grant. With Satomi's pack, we only got the names of three of them before Season 5 so I thought that with Stiles' new relationship with their Alpha, there would room to get a little more familiar with them, like a name and maybe the symbol for her pack since all the others had their own. I looked through Buddhist symbols and thought the Eight Spoke Wheel was easy enough for a werewolf to carve using their claws and was fitting. As for Virgil, let's just say he and his tarot cards will be important for what I have planned down the line for Stiles and Scott's relationship and futures.


	3. Creatures of the Night

Chapter 2: Creatures of the Night

Scott was sitting on the front of Stiles' jeep, looking at the stars, while Stiles was leaning on the side behind him. He was gazing down at a California map, making measurements and gauging distances. After his internship Scott had gotten picked up from the hospital from Stiles and they went to collect Liam from the party he had gone to when it was around dusk.

Liam had been reluctant to leave, as he was there with Mason, but Lori said that when it was time to go then Mason could hitch a ride with her and Brett. He told her that he appreciated it and gave her a hug before he quickly separated when he realized what he was doing. He hadn't noticed that Brett had seen them and flashed his sister a teasing smirk; which she had answered with a sarcastic finger his way.

Stiles was silently gazing over the marked places he made on his map of the San Francisco area and surrounding counties. "All right, so I found some cool two bedrooms over in the Mission District but they're pretty expensive. A couple in Haight and Ashbury are also expensive."

"Expensive," Scott huffed out. That was one word he had truly come to hate as of late.

"Yeah," mumbled Stiles. "Has your mom brought up giving up the house again?"

"No, she hasn't said anything about it. But…I overheard her on the phone almost two weeks ago. Talking to a realty company and asking about making audits on homes." Scott let his head droop a bit. "She's getting ready to put our house up for sale."

When Scott heard about his mom's promotion at the hospital, he thought that it would mean the end of worrying about them losing the house. If anything, it felt like that idea was stronger and closer than ever.

Stiles held a steadying hand up. "Whoa, Hey Scott, it just sounds like she's only checking into it. It doesn't necessarily mean she's actually going to do it. You said it was over a week ago, right?" Scott nodded. "Well, nothings happened. At least, she would tell you first, before she did anything, right?"

Scott let a sigh loose. "Yeah…you're right." He then cleared his throat. "But if I want to make sure that it doesn't come to that then I really need to knuckle down on costs."

"Well…I guess we could try looking over at Nob Hill for a place. Students like to live there so it shouldn't be too hard to find a decent place."

"A two bedroom place?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Maybe we're being too picky. I think we should try looking into…more."

Stiles moved his eyes from the map to look Scott in the eye. "More? Wait, you mean…roommates?"

"It would be a lot less expensive if there were more than just two of us in on the rent. And there would be a lot more places to look if we didn't limit ourselves to just the two of us. Maybe live in a place with two or three other guys, splitting the rent more ways. I think we should really consider it."

"Consider it? Scott, maybe that's not such a good idea. You know, for us to just live with total strangers all of a sudden."

"Why?" asked Scott. He couldn't help but think it was a good solution to his problem.

Stiles rose his eyes at him, wondering how Scott could be so dense. "Uh how about because of this?"

Stiles then had his eyes shift and glow to him. Yet, at the sight of his blue eyes, Scott's own eyes averted as he looked over to the side.

Stiles tightened his jaw as he made his wolf eyes go back to normal. Scott still wouldn't look at him in the eye whenever he shifted them. It had been the first time in the last six months since Stiles shifted his eyes in front of Scott. Since Mexico there hadn't any trouble or need for him to outside his time with Satomi and her pack. Before, whenever Scott turned and averted his gaze from him and his blue eyes, Stiles would always feel terrible for a few moments. Now, he found a small bit of irritation bubbling in his stomach as he moved to clench his fist. Stiles was finding himself getting more pissed off than upset but as he felt his claws starting to grow and dig into his palms, he unclenched his hand and anchored himself down with thoughts of his dad and Malia. This was supposed to be a happy and special night and he didn't want to ruin it.

Scott turned to look back up at the moon as he sighed at the pin his friend just stuck into his idea. Sharing a decent place close to school along with cutting down the rent. It did seem like it might be the best option he could go for. Or…why not take it a notch further? He could look into rushing for a fraternity. Yeah, guys in a frat didn't have to pay rent at all, didn't they? Yet, he didn't think that Stiles would be hip to that idea if he was against the notion of living with multiple roommates. Though, Scott couldn't help but think that he might have a point. With everything they had to deal with, it was too big a chance that they could get exposed and drag more people into all of this. Scott sighed then. Why did this werewolf stuff have to ruin everything?

"Maybe it's too early to think about this stuff anyway," Scott muttered as he kept his gaze on the sky. "Maybe we should wait and worry about finishing this year before we start thinking about where we're going to live after."

"Yeah, maybe," Stiles muttered back. He then started to fold the map back up. When he was done, he saw Scott was still staring at the sky and he turned to gaze at the full moon himself. "It's not bothering you, is it?"

"No. Just thinking," Scott said with a shrug.

"About what?"

"Stuff," he mumbled. "Mostly about it being senior year. I can't believe it's really here."

"Actually, senior year doesn't officially start until after our thing at midnight." Stiles noticed the expression on Scott's face seemed glum. "You don't seem happy about it though."

Scott kept his eyes on the moon as he shook his head. "No, I am, it's just…with how things have been lately."

"What are you talking about?"

"Deaton said something to me once."

"Oh, what?"

"You ever hear of regression to the mean?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Well, basically its his way of saying that life can't ever be all bad or all good. You know, eventually, things have to come back to the middle. The last six months, things have been good, right? But not amazing," Scott explained to him.

Stiles sighed as he started to draw invisible spirals on the hood of his jeep with his finger. "You mean like how no one's tried to kill any of us in the last six months?" he dryly said.

"Things have been pretty much in the middle for us for a while. That means, at some point, the scale has to tip one way or the other. Things are either going to be really good-"

"Or really bad," Stiles ended for him. With the tense feelings he's been having lately, Stiles hoped that it all wasn't a sign that things were going to swing for them to be getting bad, soon. He then looked at his watch and his eyes nearly popped out. "Oh man."

"What?" Scott asked. "We still have plenty of time, don't we?"

"Yeah, but no that's not it. We have to go," Stiles coughed up. "Uh hey, you think it's been long enough?"

"Yes!" Liam shouted off from the side.

Scott and Stiles took a look over where Liam was bound to a tree in thick chains. It was wrapped completely around him and the tree two times and held by a thick steel lock. The kid had an annoyed look on his face as he stared back at them.

"Hey, do you mind?!" Stiles shot at him. "Trying to have an adult conversation over here!"

Liam rolled his eyes. "You're only two years older than me." He had been listening in and while he thought some of what they were talking about was uncomfortable, he would hardly call it 'adult'. He then gestured over to the chain linking him. "You going to let me out now?"

Scott gave Stiles a look and Stiles answered it with a roll of his eyes. Scott moved over, pulling out a set of keys from his pocket and Stiles walked over with him. Scott stopped a few feet from Liam as he looked expectant at him.

Scott sighed. "Liam, look it's not like I don't trust you-" he started.

Stiles cut him off. "It's that I don't trust you."

"I said I was sorry," Liam sighed. "You didn't have to chain me up, you know."

Stiles put his hands on his hips as he gave the kid a critical look. "Yeah, well I knew you could handle being on your own last month and you saw how wrong I was there."

Liam suddenly could detect the smell of disappointment drifting over from Stiles. He'd recently started getting trained in identify chemo signals though it was still a work in progress. Yet, he found he knew this scent all too well. Liam dropped his gaze a bit. "It was just one slip up," he defended meekly.

That made Stiles raise an eyebrow. "A slip up? A dozen calls to the Sheriff's Department about a monstrous dog boy running around Beacon Hills naked, you call that a _slip up_?"

Scott then narrowed his eyes. "Why were you naked?"

"It was really hot that night okay. It won't happen again."

"I still don't get why it happened at all. The month before, you were handling the full moon, no problem. I even started to teach you chess because it was starting to get boring just sitting around with you all night. How could you have lost control two hours into the night on your own? What were you doing?" asked Stiles.

Some color went to Liam's cheeks. "Uh…just stuff."

Stiles could guess what kind of 'stuff' Liam was up to by the rush of emotions now coming from him. "So, instead of taking a cold shower like a normal teen, you shift and run out into the streets in your birthday suit?" he asked incredulously.

"Can you just let me out now?" Liam turned to look away from them, trying to drown out the fresh humiliation he was feeling. "Please?" he asked, looking over at Scott.

Scott's face softened as Liam looked desperately at him and the Alpha decided to spare him anymore embarrassment.

"You sure you're okay?" Liam nodded. As he did, Scott detected a small hint of blood in the air. "You're in complete and total control?"

Liam caught him in his eyes. "I'm fine," he said, staring at his Alpha's eyes.

"Are you?" Stiles pressed, his tone clearly saying he wasn't convinced. Not only did he hear a jump in Liam's heart as he said that to Scott, but he could smell the faint scent of blood as well.

The young beta's eyes moved to him and Liam's heart skipped a beat. Stiles was looking right at him and Liam began to fight the urge to nervously swallow.

"Stiles, a storm is coming, remember?" Scott said pointedly. He then moved to release him from the chains. "Besides, didn't you just say we have to get going? We don't want to be late."

"We can always come back for him later," Stiles lightly suggested. Scott just stared at him and Stiles rolled his eyes. "Alright, fine."

Stiles let himself look at Liam for another second before he moved back to his jeep.

"Come on Liam," Scott gently said to him before he followed after Stiles. "We'll drop you off at the hospital with your stepdad."

Liam let himself watch their backs before he looked down at the palms of his hands. There were deep cuts in the palms, made from his claws. The smell of fresh blood was so clear to him. If the scent was that clear to him then Liam guessed that Scott and Stiles caught it right away. They must know he had been lying.

As they walked on ahead, Scott dropped his voice to a whisper to not let Liam hear them. " _You don't have to be so hard on him_."

" _Well, you don't have to be so easy on him either,"_ Stiles said back. _"I know you could smell it too. He lied right to your face_."

" _I know but we can't just start treating him like a criminal over one mistake. It's not like we didn't make any or lie when we first turned_."

Stiles let out a small huff at that one. He won't deny the lies but was tempted to remind Scott where the bulk of the mistakes had come from. " _Maybe not but Scott, at least I don't coddle and indulge him whenever he makes sad eyes at me. Keep it up and instead of a beta, you're going to wind up with a baby_."

Scott had flinched and gone silent until they got into the jeep and Liam got into the back. The next five minutes in the jeep were spent in silence. Stiles was driving them out of the woods, Scott was staring off at the passing trees. Liam was sitting firmly, scrolling down the playlist on his phone, focusing harder than normal on each one. He couldn't help but feel the thick tension that was in this car; so thick that you could tear into it with a set of claws.

"Hey," Liam suddenly said, trying to break the gaping silence. "What's going on tonight at the school anyway? Is it a party?"

"No, it's not a party," Stiles replied, keeping his eyes firmly on the road.

"Then what's at midnight?"

"Your bedtime," Stiles said shortly.

Liam guessed Stiles was a little pissed with him. "What about the girls?" he went on. "Why aren't they going?"

"Because they're meeting us there, okay? We're picking Malia up now. And could you quit it with the questions already. It's a senior thing and you'll know when you're a senior," Stiles huffed out.

Stiles darted his eyes a bit and looked over at his friend who was gazing absently out the window at the passing trees. Scott had been silent after he made that last statement about Liam. The kid lied right to their faces, to Scott's face, and Scott knew that he did. He no doubt smelled the blood coming from him just as he had. Yet Scott caved and gave in to what Liam wanted just by him batting his eyes and crying to him. He couldn't help but be upset with him, both of them.

But Scott hadn't been thinking about Liam or the fact that he lied. He was stuck on Stiles and how he said he'd be the one to wind up with a 'baby'. He couldn't help but think it ironic coming from Stiles of all people.

After everything had calmed down after Mexico, Scott had called Derek and came out with his suspicions of the father of Cora's baby; even though he had been bracing for it Scott was still thrown when Derek admitted that he was right. Stiles and Cora had slept together during her time in Beacon Hills and had gotten pregnant though hadn't found out until two weeks after they had left. Peter also knew and Derek told him that it would be safer for Cora and the baby if not too many others did. About Cora having a baby or that Stiles was the father. Scott felt that Stiles should at least know but Derek told him not to say anything. Stiles was smart and if he knew that Cora had a kid then he would quickly guess who the father had to be. He said the situation was complicated now and Cora also didn't want Stiles to know, at least not now. Scott didn't like it but agreed to keep it a secret though he already found himself struggling around Stiles enough without all this. He just wished he could talk about it over with somebody though.

He faintly registered Stiles mentioning his girlfriend. "Malia's back?" he asked softly. Last he heard, she still hadn't come back from her vacation with her father. And he wanted to take his mind off what he had just been dwelling on.

Stiles sighed but nodded. "Uh, yeah. Malia called me earlier. She and her dad got back into town this afternoon."

"You didn't go see her?"

"No. I wanted to let Malia and her dad settle back in first. They had been gone for a while and I thought I shouldn't come barging in at the front door not even an hour after they just got home," Stiles said a bit glumly. He had been missing Malia in the last couple of weeks. But he knew that he wasn't the only one without his girlfriend. "What about Kira? Her flight was today, right?"

Scott nodded. "She and her parents' plane should've landed less than an hour ago. They're probably on their way back to Beacon Hills right now."

"Kira knows to be at the school though right?"

"And what's happening at the school?' Liam cut in.

Stiles looked up at the rearview mirror to narrow his eyes at the kid. "What did I just say? Don't make me turn this jeep around."

Liam just huffed and let his back sink into the seat as he moved to pull back out his phone. Scott took out his own phone to try and call Kira to see how far off she was but found that he wasn't getting any reception.

"Hey Liam, are you having trouble with your phone?" Scott asked, moving it around a bit. "Stiles?"

"What? No service?" Stiles asked. But before he could get an answer, there was sputtering noises in front of him and the jeep started to slow. "Oh, what the hell?" he sighed.

The jeep moved on for a few more seconds before it slowed to a complete stop. The headlights then went off as well.

"You out of gas?" asked Liam.

"No, it's electrical," Stiles said. "Probably the alternator again," he stressfully said as he moved to get out.

Scott got out and joined him as Stiles moved to pull the front hood up. Scott's eyes widened as he gazed inside.

"Whoa, that's a lot of duct tape." A lot was an understatement. The entire engine and all the valves had duct tape almost everywhere. There were few places that weren't covered up at all. That made Stiles give him a short look. "Kidding," Scott said quickly. "We'll fix it."

"I know," Stiles stressfully sighed out. "It's just that it's the last night of summer so I wanted to make sure that everyone was there tonight."

"We'll make it. You got any tools?"

"Yeah," Stiles said before he revealed a roll of duct tape.

Some lightning was starting to flash overhead as Stiles started to pull some out and put a new layer on top of the old one. Liam was trying distract himself with some music when a bolt of lightning struck at the road about a couple of yards behind them.

"Guys," he called out, just before another bolt of lightning struck the road. This time a bit closer. "Guys!" he cried out.

"Yeah, give us a second please," Stiles said as he pulled out some more tape.

"Yeah, Liam stay in the car, okay?" Scott said before moving to help Stiles apply the tape on.

But then a bolt of lightning struck about ten feet behind them, making the two of them jump.

"That was close," Scott said staring at the charred spot.

"Very close," Stiles breathed, also staring at it.

Just then, the jeep seemed to spur to life as the lights came on and the engine restarted.

Liam stuck his head out of the window. "Can we go now?"

* * *

Two pairs of wrists were wrapped by metal cuffs as the two werewolves they belonged were sitting against a stone wall, where they were chained to. The chains were jingling as one of the werewolves was pulling on them, thrashing about trying to get free. The full moon was driving him into a frenzy while the other one chained next to him was sitting more calmly but was breathing harder and quicker than usual. Their eyes both burning bright gold.

Charlie Harris was feeling the effect of the full moon drilling into him and trying to drive him into a primal frenzy. He had been bitten by the Alpha named Oscar not too long ago and the one chained next to him had been bit just one month ago. Charlie looked over at the six others in the room who were watching them in a semi-circle like formation. Mixes of gold and blue eyes were glowing in the darkness as they stared at him.

Over in the shadows, Oscar was observing them with another of his betas.

"Charlie seems to have fully mastered control after only six months. He hasn't showed any kind of effect all night."

Oscar nodded. "Yes, he's disciplined. Thanks to his military training he is already adept at coping and keeping focused in stressful circumstances. The other was a military school student. He will probably also adapt quickly too though maybe not tonight on his second full moon. But, when he does then our pack will be at 13. But that's still not enough." He turned away to go to the window and gaze up at the full moon overhead. "Any new information?"

"No sir. The Hales seemed to have settled in Green Ridge. Derek and Cora have been integrating themselves with the locals there as well as staying in contact with your Emissary's student Maggie. They have not made any indication of leaving any time soon."

"Good. I want you to keep the watch over them but make sure it stays at a distance. I don't want them to feel the need to leave."

His beta nodded. "Of course sir."

"In the meantime, we might have to step up our time table a bit."

"Oscar?"

"My instincts are at their peak tonight and they're telling me that things have been accelerated. So we must do the same if we want to stay ahead of what's to come."

* * *

"Alright everyone, we have to hurry and get this moved off the road," said Henry Tate.

He was with a small group of people and helping to move a downed tree that was spread along the middle of the road. He knew that a storm was impending and even though the rain hadn't hit them yet, there were already a few strong winds and the skies were darkening.

Malia looked up to see that the full moon was almost fully blocked by the impending cloud cover. "Yeah dad. The storm is almost here. I can smell the rain getting closer," she said to him.

A man next to Henry rose an eyebrow. "Did you just say you can smell the rain?"

"The moisture," Henry quickly explained. "It's getting thick enough to smell."

"Well, I guess it's getting humid," the guy shrugged.

Henry clapped his hands to get the others attention. "Yeah, so unless we want to just hang around and get drenched, let's get this out of the way." The guys moved to gather around the tree and tried to lift it up but the tree was only shaking a bit in place. "C'mon, lift with your legs!" he called out to the others. "That's where your power is."

Malia stood to the side and watched as her dad and the others only managed to make the thick tree hover over the ground as they slowly tried to move it. She looked to her phone and saw the time. This whole tree business was slowing them down enough and decided to just speed this along. She moved over and bent over to take hold of the tree. She pushed it out of the grasps of the others and they watched as she tossed it off to the side, all on her own. She turned around to see them all looking at her a bit gob smacked, including her father.

She shrugged at them. "What? I lifted with my legs like you said."

Henry gave a nervous chuckle. "Yes. Yes, you did Malia." He then turned to the others. "My daughter loves to climb," he explained. "Lots of upper body strength."

They then quickly moved for his car as they moved to not stick around and drive out of there. Malia was able to see that her dad was wound up and could smell how anxious he was.

"I'm sorry," Malia said.

Henry sighed. "You have to learn to be more careful Malia. You can't just show off your strength in public like that."

"Yeah," she mumbled. "I know. It was just that you all were taking too long."

Henry let his eyes fall to the clock and saw that there were already ten minutes late and they would still take fifteen more to get to where Henry was supposed to drop Malia off. That made him sigh. "I know you're eager to see your boyfriend but you shouldn't put yourself at risk like that."

"I've just…never been this long without seeing Stiles before."

"Malia, I'm sure Stiles wants to see you too but he wouldn't you to get in trouble over him."

"I know," she sighed. "He's just been so excited about tonight. I don't want to ruin it by being late."

Henry moved his right hand to lightly take her left. "You won't ruin anything. Malia, you could never make anything worse, only better. My life may have gotten stranger and crazier since you came back, but it's much better with you back in it then out of it."

Malia smiled widely at him which he returned. They had such a good time that they could hardly believe that their dual vacation was really over. Henry and Malia had taken the last few weeks to go off on a father-daughter road trip. He felt they had a lot of time to make up for, and with Malia pushing past her late start to pass junior year, a lot to celebrate. They left town at the start of the month and started cruising down the interstate. The first week, it was just random driving and they found themselves camping at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. She remembered how she and her dad heard a howl in the distance that night and she told him it was a coyote. They drove to all kinds of places in the country, like Las Vegas, Mount Rushmore, St. Louis, the Mississippi River and New York City just to name a few.

They were half an hour late at the meeting spot but there was no sign of Stiles' jeep anywhere. Malia pulled out her phone but saw that there were no bars.

"I have no service."

"The storm might not be fully here yet but it looks like its already taken out the cell towers. You don't think Stiles already came and then took off do you?" asked Henry.

Malia shook her head. "Something probably happened with Liam. He was going to help Scott watch him a bit tonight."

"That kid still having problems with, you know, the whole thing?" he asked suggestively.

"Stiles thinks he's improving but could still use a little bit of help with a few things. I hope nothing happened tonight."

Henry nodded before his eyes narrowed as he caught something to the right. "I guess we're about to find out," he said before he pointed the approaching jeep out to her.

Stiles jeep moved to park itself across the street and the horn honked. Malia started jogging right for it with Henry walking calmly behind her.

Stiles stuck his head out of the window and smiled brightly over at Malia. "Sorry we're late! Hey."

Malia just smiled at him as she moved to grab at Stiles' face and gave him a deep kiss which he eagerly returned. Stiles moaned softly as he smelled, felt and tasted Malia again after weeks of her being gone. They broke apart and Stiles was grinning at her with a drunk like smirk.

A second later, Liam moved up and smiled at her in a mocking copy of Stiles grin. "I'm sorry too," he said to her.

Liam clearly wanted to try and get back at Stiles for earlier. Stiles turned to give him a pointed look while Scott bit the corner of his cheek to not laugh or grin at this.

Henry wasn't amused though, especially after the shameless kiss that they had right in front of him. "You boys do remember I own a gun, right?"

"Vividly," Stiles nodded. A memory of Henry cocking and firing his shotgun coming clearly back to him.

"Okay, bye dad," Malia said to him, with a wave.

Henry gave Stiles a mild glare before he turned over to Malia and gave her a quick wink before he took off. Liam scooted over as Malia hopped in the back seat with him.

"How was your trip?" Scott asked.

Malia smiled as she let the back of her head rest against the seat's head rest. "It was great. My dad and I saw so many great places. Had a lot of fun. And you guys? Anything interesting happen while I was gone?"

Scott, Stiles and Liam gave each other some looks before they shrugged. "Not really," they mumbled together.

"Not even when they found you naked during the full moon?" she asked, looking at Liam.

"You told her about that?!" Liam cried.

She shrugged. "Yeah, why not, it's not like they haven't seen me naked before."

"What, they saw you naked? Can I?" Liam said fast paced and a bit eagerly.

Stiles quickly cut in. "Okay, no more talking. And keep your hands to yourself," he said, pointing a warning finger at Liam before he turned back around. "Or I'll make you wish you stayed chained to that tree." He then pulled the car back into drive and moved them out of there.

* * *

It hadn't started to rain yet but already there were flashes of lightning flashing through the sky. There were a few scrambled cell towers and some blackout spots. Many people were already making calls to the Sheriff's department about it all. The officers were running around and Deputy Jordan Parrish was at his desk, taking calls from complaining townspeople.

"Yes, ma'am, we're having trouble with the power as well. It's most likely related to the storm," he said in a mechanical voice before he then hung up.

"Parrish!" Noah Stilinski said as he stepped out of his office. "Go and check the back up generator and make sure it's fueled." The deputy nodded to him as the phone rang again. "And Parrish, answer the phone," he said before stepping back into his office and closing the door.

Jordan let out an annoyed sigh as he looked at the phone that was ringing in front of him. "Alright," he muttered to himself. He then moved, not to answer the phone or to go and check up on the back up generator, but to the Sheriff's office. He had enough.

Noah looked up from his desk, surprised to see Parrish coming into his office, with a driven expression on his face. "Parrish, what-"

But Jordan didn't let him say more than that as he shut the door behind him. "Six months. Six months of directing traffic, doing courthouse security, serving subpoenas, and today I finished a total organizational overhaul of evidence lock-up. Now, I'm stuck behind the front desk while there are downed power lines, a jackknifed tractor-trailer and reports of gunshots downtown?!"

That made the Sheriff sigh, "Parrish" almost tiredly.

But Jordan wouldn't bend. "I don't know what I did to lose your trust but you need every available deputy out there."

He didn't understand why the man was doing this to him. Six months ago, he had gone and helped protect the man's werewolf son and his pack of friends; fighting against giant, skeleton wearing monsters before locking up the deranged madman and she-devil behind it all in a Mexican ghost town. He thought he more than proved himself to Stilinski but then he just started making him do scut jobs out of nowhere.

Noah then nodded. "Okay, got something for you." He then lifted a file from his desk up to him.

Jordan went to take it and gave it a glance before he looked back at him. "A noise complaint?" he asked incredulously.

"Yeah. Somebody made a noise, somebody else complained about it. Check it out."

Jordan bit down his irritation and then just left the office without another word.

He didn't see Noah's eyes following after him with a glum look on his face. Noah didn't like doing this and wondered if maybe he and Melissa were really handling Parrish's situation in the right way after all.

Jordan got to the address and found that it looked like an extravagant looking but condemned house. He stepped inside to see that it looked empty.

"Hello?!" he called out as he shined a flashlight inside. "This is the Beacon County Sheriff's Department!"

The house didn't look like anyone had stepped in it for a few years now. There was a layer of dust and even a downed chandelier in the hall. He looked around and started to head down to check the basement. He kept calling out but there was no answer or any kind of noise outside his own feet and the wind. The rational part of his mind was thinking this was just a prank though there was a part of him making him feel like he was stepping closer and closer into danger.

When he got to the basement, he started to hear a scratching noise. He followed it and came into a wall, that seemed to be dust free and freshly assembled. The scratching got louder and he pressed his ear to the wall and jumped when he heard and felt banging. Jordan's eyes widened as he realized that someone was stuck inside the wall.

"Hey! Hey, can you hear me?!" he cried. The person banged against the wall even harder, probably out of response. "Okay, okay, I'm going to get you out of there! I'm coming right back, just hang on!" Jordan ran out for his truck where he went to the back and pulled out a crowbar and ran back for the basement. "I'm back. Listen, back up if you can!"

Jordan then moved to strike at the wall but only managed to make a small chip in the stone. He kept hitting and chipping at it until he made a small hole clean through it. As soon as he did, a black substance begun pouring out of it. The wall began to crack and the goo sprayed off at his face. Jordan wiped at it and realized that it was blood. The very next second, something crashed through the wall and grabbed at his throat. Jordan found himself getting pushed back as he was lifted into the air. He looked down and was staring into the blue eyes of something covered in what seemed to be black blood. His eyes were glowing blue and when he made eye contact, it roared and bared fangs, all like a werewolf. He looked down and noticed that there were claws on his free hand but the claws were bigger and thicker than he remembered seeing on Scott or Stiles. He didn't get to think anymore on it as it then took those claws and stabbed them right into his stomach.

Jordan cried out as the thing started to twist and turn them, tearing into his insides. Jordan's eyes glowed a fiery orange as he glared painfully at the creature and its eyes went from blue to a matching orange as he stared back, smiling.

"Not a werewolf," he said through his fangs. "But you're something." He then threw him to the ground.

Jordan's eyes weren't glowing anymore as he stared up as the creature was smiling maniacally and hungrily down to him. He was breathing heavily as he felt barely able to lift his head. It was like most of his energy was sapped from his body.

"No, you're no normal creature deputy, but then neither am I. Not tonight." The creature then held up his set of long claws to show that they were glowing blue and his eyes were back to glowing blue to match. "I'll let you live if you answer me one question. Where is Scott McCall?"

Jordan just glared at him. "Never heard of him," he panted out as he held onto his wound. He wouldn't tell this thing where Scott, or anyone else was.

The creature then slashed his claws at him, a light trail of blue light following after them as they moved.

* * *

On the road back into town there was a major traffic block. Cars were bumper to bumper and some people were standing outside their cars looking out to try and see how far the holdup was. Not too many as a light rain was starting to come down. One person was standing on top of her car though, holding her phone up into the air. Kira was trying to call Scott but there was no signal at all. She was shifting weight nervously from one foot to another.

Inside the car, her parents were hearing it and they shared a small look with each other. Noshiko decided to be the one this time and stuck her head out the window.

"Kira," she said as she looked up at her daughter waving her phone around. "Get back inside the car, please?"

Kira sighed but moved to jump off the roof and landed firmly on the ground. She straightened up as she noticed a guy standing close by with his phone out too. He then turned around and she saw that it was a handsome looking guy and he smiled at her.

"I'm not getting anything either," he said holding his phone up at her.

Kira smiled before she got back into her car. "We haven't moved in fifteen minutes. I'm going to be late."

Noshiko looked back over at her. "What is this thing you're going to anyway?"

"It's called Senior Scribe and I'm not supposed to tell you about it," she told her.

Noshiko then looked at her husband.

"Don't look at me," he quickly told her. "I don't know anything either. Sounds like they're supposed to write something or…" He shrugged his shoulders.

"It sounds like vandalism."

"It's not vandalism," Kira quickly said. "At least, I don't think it is." She then looked off to see nothing and no one still moving and Kira shook her head. "That's it, I'm going."

"What? You're going to walk?" her father asked skeptically.

"Yep," she said stepping out of the car. But then a clap of thunder rang out and the light rain turned into a heavy downpour and she got right back in. "In a few minutes."

* * *

When they got to the hospital, Stiles and Malia waited in the lobby while Scott took Liam up to see his father. Liam checked in with the receptionist and he found his way back to Scott.

"My dad is busy in surgery. He's not going to be done for hours. So, I'm either hanging out here or I could still go with you guys," he suggested a little hopefully.

Scott called for the elevator and then turned to Liam. "Show me your hands."

Liam deflated as he moved to reveal the cuts in his palms that had dried blood and were still bleeding a bit. "You knew."

"Yeah, we did. That's why Stiles is kind of pissed right now at you. You lied right to our faces."

"I'm sorry." He sighed. "Okay, so the truth is I'm still having trouble.

Scott shook his head. "No, you're still learning."

"Still? I mean, I thought that having an anchor was supposed to give you control and I have two. But, its still hard."

"Two, yeah. Your stepdad and Satomi's mantra."

"Well more like a memory of my stepdad teaching me his saying and one of Stiles teaching me the mantra. But, it's hard to focus on them. Satomi and her pack have been trying to teach me to learn focus and keep control with sparring. It's helping I guess and I've learned a lot. I thought I was getting it but…it's getting harder to stay focused for some reason."

Scott knew that Liam and Stiles were visiting and meeting with Satomi and her pack more and more, especially over the summer. Though he himself didn't find himself up for meeting Satomi as much as they did. But he saw that it was helping, even if he still didn't really like the fact that Liam was learning how to fight along with trying to learn control.

He shrugged that last bit away. "Well I would think it's hard to keep focus on specific memories. What do you do to try and not change when you can't?"

Liam pulled out his headphones. "But it's not working."

"It's working enough. Listen, Derek told me that you were one of the strongest that he'd ever seen at your age. Coming from him that means a lot. Maybe that means things are just gonna be harder for you for a while." The elevator got there and Scott stepped in. "But it also means something else, doesn't it?"

"That I'm really strong?"

Scott smiled. "Hell yeah." The elevator doors then started closing but he kept his gaze on Liam until they fully shut.

Scott got to the ground floor and moved off to the lobby. He got there and he sighed when he saw Stiles and Malia were sitting in the chairs by the front desk, lightly making out and dead to the world around them. They got a few looks from people passing by and the two nurses at the desk were trying to work like nothing was going on but Scott could smell their discomfort and unease. He guessed that the two of them were catching up with each other. Scott stood there, giving them a few more seconds, before he loudly cleared his throat. The two of them slowly broke away and Stiles moved to stand up as he straightened himself up.

"How it go?" he asked with a slightly winded voice.

"I think he's going to be fine." He then looked down to his phone and saw that there was still no service. "I still can't reach Kira though."

"When was the last time you talked to her?" asked Stiles.

"Uh…I don't know. Over a week ago."

Stiles' eyes widened. "A week?"

"Yeah, I didn't want to bother her while she was in New York," he explained.

Malia nodded. "It was great there."

Stiles gave a look before turning back to Scott. "Well, how did you leave things before you left?"

Scott shrugged. "I just said don't worry and go have fun."

"Go have…no, Scott you didn't."

Scott's face fell. "What? What's wrong?"

Stiles turned to Malia. "Malia, if before you had left, I had told you "Don't worry, go have fun." What would you think I was talking about?"

"Uh, fun like bowling or sex with other guys?"

Stiles then turned to Scott and his eyes widened.

"Okay, yeah. Now I'm worried."

He tried to call Kira again but Stiles pulled him back as a pair of gurneys came through, each carrying a wounded patient.

"That's five in the last twenty minutes," Stiles told him.

Scott then spotted his mom following after them. "Mom, where's all this coming from?" he asked as she passed them.

She stopped to look back at him. "A jackknifed tractor-trailer on 115. Caused a major pileup."

"Uh, okay there is only one way back into Beacon Hills from the airport," said Stiles.

"115," Scott breathed. Kira was no doubt stuck in that pileup.

Stiles dropped his head down a bit. "Kira's never going to make it."

But Scott shook his head. "I can get her." He then moved for the entrance. "You guys head to the school. Lydia's probably already there. We'll meet you by midnight."

"How are you gonna get to her in the middle of a traffic jam?" he called after him.

Scott turned to look back at him. "We'll make it. Trust me."

He then went out.

* * *

Over at the McCall house, the creature that attacked Parrish crashed in through the living room window, sending shattered glass all over the floor. He sniffed the air around the house and looked up at the ceiling.

"No one home."

He walked down to the kitchen and saw that there was a note written on a pad on the fridge. He pulled the paper off and read the message.

 **Senior Scribe Tonight. I'll be back by 12:30. Scott.**

He then left to head to the high school.

* * *

A/N: Well, there you have it. I had to make a few changes to things with the changes I made for what everyone was doing during the summer. I also decided to not include the Lydia stuff from this episode because I want to keep everything that goes on this year fresh with the timeline.


	4. Creatures of the Night part 2

Chapter 3: Creatures of the Night part 2

Noah was in his office and looked over at his watch to see that it had been a little over two hours since Parrish had left. He thought he would've checked in by now and he couldn't help but feel concerned. However, his concern vanished when he heard shouting outside his door. He looked outside to see two deputies dragging in someone who was shouting and trying to pull himself free.

"What the hell?" he shouted as they pushed him against a ledge. "Are you trying to break my arm?"

The deputy behind him then tightened her hold on his arms. "Keep struggling and I'll be aiming for a compound fracture," she spat at him.

Noah sighed. It was Donovan Donati, his former partner's son and he was being manhandled by Valerie Clark, one of his newest deputies.

"Donovan," he said sternly but still trying to be gentle. "You forgot what the judge said, didn't you? Next time is jail time."

Donovan's face paled a bit. "Stilinski? Please, come on," he said pleadingly.

Noah looked over at Clark. "What's he in for?"

"B and E," she said. "And he was carrying a .38."

Noah let his gaze drop a bit. Donovan started to get more nervous.

"It wasn't mine. Sheriff, it wasn't mine," Donovan tried to explain.

Donovan had been getting into some sporadic bouts of trouble since his father's…injury. He'd had a few domestic disturbance and assault charges to his name since then. Noah had tried to cut the kid some slack whenever they popped up but when he became a legal adult over a year ago, he hadn't stopped. Now, it looked like it was getting serious. Carrying around a gun as he was breaking and entering and no doubt leaning towards armed robbery. Noah realized Donovan was getting worse and he couldn't keep letting it go anymore. His father would understand why he had to do what he was about to.

"Book him," he told his deputies.

Donovan's expression quickly changed from apologetic to livid. "Oh, you're dead," he hissed out at him. He started being carried off by the deputies but saw that the Sheriff wasn't looking at him. That only made him angrier. "Hey, look at me! You're dead! Do you hear me?! You're dead!"

The deputies only carried him off faster for the holding cells. Donovan's threats started carrying themselves off through the station that some of the people stopped what they were doing. Noah noticed that they were either awkwardly listening to Donovan's shouting or looking at him. His own face hardened.

"Can anyone tell me why the hell Parrish isn't back yet?!" he shouted out to drown out Donovan's own shouting.

* * *

Scott quickly ran off to his house and headed straight up for his room to grab his helmet and his keys for his bike. He then started to quickly run down the stairs when there was a bolt of lightning and a clap of thunder following it. Scott stopped at the foot of the staircase as it sounded louder than he expected. He then felt a small breeze and he looked over to find that the shades were flapping violently on one of the windows. For a moment, he thought that his mom had left the window open by accident but he froze when he saw the broken glass spilled on the floor in front of it.

"Aw, man," Scott muttered as he moved away.

He then heard a small scratching sound and then sound of something falling coming from the kitchen. Scott ran off, thinking that someone must've broken into his home and was trying to leave when they heard him. Scott was a second away from shifting to ward away the intruder but stopped when he saw the source of the scratching. It was a small black bird that flying against the wall, frantically flapping its wings as it flew across the counter and was knocking some envelopes loose. He saw that there was a broken coffee mug on the ground where they fell and realized that had been the source of the noise he heard.

"A bird," he sighed in relief. Scott let his senses branch out and didn't detect anyone else in the house and it didn't look like anything was burgled or ruined. He then looked at the window whose drapes was still flapping from the heavy winds. "I guess it was the storm," he thought out loud. Scott guessed that the high winds sent a rock or maybe even the bird into the window and shattered it.

Scott then went over to try and catch the bird, which he saw was a raven upon closer inspection. It flapped it wings and soared higher to go out of his reach and Scott started to try jumping in order to grab it and send it off. The raven moved to try and fly over the space above the fridge and Scott moved to try and catch it but almost slipped. On the floor were the refrigerator magnets and papers and photos they had hung and he had nearly slipped on one of them. He quickly opened the kitchen door and the raven moved to fly out of it and Scott quickly shut the door after it did.

Scott looked down on the mess on the floor. "Oh man, I so don't have time for this," he mumbled to himself as he bent down and started to quickly clean up. He gathered the fallen envelops and broken mug pieces. He then got to the magnets and tried to attach them back but they weren't sticking. They just fell right back to the floor as soon as he let them go. Scott then grabbed the paper he almost slipped on and found that it was the note he had left his mother reminding her about Senior Scribe. He narrowed his eyes a bit when he saw that there were holes in the notes. They were small and were shaped a little oddly. He moved his fingers a bit and then squeezed on the paper to find that his fingertips lined up with the holes perfectly. He was brought out of his trance when the magnets suddenly flew off the floor and stuck back onto the fridge.

He then shook his head a bit. "Get a grip Scott," he mumbled to himself. His nerves were probably still wound up from the earlier lightning scare and his talk with Stiles. He couldn't let himself get paranoid.

But he stiffened when all the electronics around him started to go haywire. The hands of the clock on the wall started to spin like crazy. The microwave started beeping on and off every other second. There was then a bright bolt of lightning outside followed by a crack of thunder that shook the house. The radio in the next room turned on and started playing loud music through the house and the lights started flickering on and off. Some things fell from the shelves and a chair even fell back.

Scott was now feeling more than paranoid. He was freaked out.

* * *

Jordan gasped as he started to regain consciousness. The first thing he noticed was that his chest felt like it was on fire. He blinked his eyes and looked down to see that there was a deep claw wound cut right into the center of his chest and it was slowly bleeding. Not only did it hurt so badly that he barely was able to get himself to sit back against the wall but it was smoking. It was as if the wound was burning like it was on fire.

He moved his hand and took hold of his radio. "Dispatch," he breathed. "Officer...officer down."

But all he got in return was high pitched static. The kind that his lingering rational mind identified as interference. No one but the Stilinski knew he was there but the Sheriff had sent him to deal with a noise complaint and wouldn't think anything was wrong any time soon. He might bleed out long before anyone found him.

"Jordan," he suddenly heard. "I'm here."

' _I know that voice,'_ he thought as he blinked and looked about.

He detected movement and turned his gaze over and found that it was Lydia. She was walking over for him and then kneel to be right in front of him.

"I'm right here," she said gently to him.

Jordan found himself feeling calmer as he stared at Lydia's gentle face. He caught her eyes just as she moved her hand and softly ran it over his bleeding wound. He let himself lean back and relax into her touch. When her fingers made contact, the pain in his chest seemed to numb itself into a hard ache. He wasn't blind to the fact that Lydia Martin was beautiful but he never dwelled on it as she was younger than him and still in school. Yet, as he stared at her, all that was the furthest from his mind. All he knew was the sight of her was breathtaking. They hadn't broken eye contact and Lydia started to slowly lean herself closer to him.

"Stay with me," she muttered as she leaned in closer.

Her eyes started to close as their faces became inches apart. Jordan found his own eyes starting to shut as he tilted his head a bit to meet Lydia's lips as she leaned in. They were mere centimeters apart when he heard another voice.

"Parrish?" he heard sound out like a distant echo.

Jordan blinked and found that Lydia was now gone and there was a bright beam of light pointing at him. It was from a flashlight and it was coming closer as he heard the person call out his name again, this time a bit clearer and sounding frantic. He blinked as the person's face came into a blurry focus and saw that it was the Sheriff. He was horrified at the sight of him and ran over to him. That was all Jordan could make out before he passed out.

Noah had been without any answers for where Parrish had been so he decided to go out looking for him himself. He decided to retrace his deputy's tracks and went to where he had sent him first. He had relieved when he saw Parrish's van in the front of the house but then got suspicious for what could be keeping him. He saw the house's front door was wide open and quickly ran inside. He frantically searched until he reached the basement and he quickly made out the scattered rubble on the floor before finding Parrish bleeding on the floor. He had to get him help and he knew who to get it from.

The doctors crowded him the moment that he moved into the hospital with Parrish sprawled on his shoulder.

"Sheriff, what happened?!" one of them cried as he ran to him.

"Get me Melissa McCall," he ordered them.

Liam was sitting off to the side, waiting on his stepdad who he saw with Scott's mom as they were talking over a medical chart on his clipboard. He couldn't hear what they were saying because he still had the earphones in his ears. He was letting his mind wander off so he was thrown when he looked up and saw that the two of them were now talking with a new doctor and they seemed frantic. He pulled the earphones out of his ears but Scott's mom was running off down the hall, following the other doctor.

"Hey dad," Liam asked going over to him. "Is something up?"

"Oh, the Sheriff just came in with a wounded deputy and he asked for Melissa specifically."

"Stiles' dad?" mumbled Liam.

The doors of an empty operating room flew open as Noah and Melissa were dragging Parrish in and laid him on the table.

"I thought you said you were going to keep him on desk duty," she said almost scolding.

"It was just a minor noise complaint," he said in defense.

Melissa looked down to get a better look at the wounds. Or lack thereof. "He's not on fire, is he?"

Noah shook his head. "Not that I know of. He definitely looks better than he did when I found him."

The claw marks seemed to have been reduced to scaring. It looked as if his flesh had been heated and melted to seal the incisions. There was also a subtle hint of smoke coming off him. It was a lot different from what they had seen with Scott and Stiles when they had been injured.

"Maybe it's a part of his healing process," she guessed.

They still didn't know what Parrish even was. Neither did their sons, their friends, Argent or even Deaton. No one seemed to. It was a total mystery.

Before any of them could say anything else, Parrish rose up from the table, startling them. He moved to get to his feet and Noah quickly pulled out his gun while he moved to shield Melissa behind him. Parrish was staring straight at him with glowing orange eyes. He was heavily breathing but he was just standing there, breathing deeply as he stared the Sheriff down. After a moment, the light in Parrish's eyes dimmed away and they were back to normal.

Melissa moved to lightly put Noah's hand down to lower his gun. "It's okay. It's okay," she told him gently. Once the gun was pointed safely to the ground, she looked up at Parrish who seemed to be taking deep breaths and blinking his eyes. "You alright deputy?"

Jordan felt his senses coming back to him and looked down at his chest. He lightly grazed at his wounds to find that they had mostly healed from when he had been attacked. As the memory came back to him, he gasped out Scott's name. "We need to find Scott."

"Scott, why?" Melissa quickly asked.

"Because this guy is after him."

"Oh god." The next minute Melissa then pulled out her phone. "Damn. There's no service," she said frantically.

"Because of the storm," Noah explained. He took another look at his deputy's wound. "Parrish, what the hell happened to you at that house? Who attacked you? A werewolf?"

But Jordan shook his head. "No, I don't think so."

"What do you mean?" asked Melissa.

"His claws were different. More like talons."

"Talons?" said Noah.

Melissa straightened a bit. "If that's the worst part, that doesn't sound too bad."

"It's worse," Jordan breathed. "They did something to me. I don't know how to describe it other than it felt as if the life was being drawn out of me through them. Through the claws."

That freaked Melissa out. "And now he's looking for Scott?"

"Which got me thinking about what this guy can do. The rule is to kill an Alpha in order to steal their power, right?"

Noah remembered what his son told him about this. "Yeah, that's usually how it is but I bet its different for Scott. You can't steal a True Alpha's power." That was because Scott didn't get his power by killing another Alpha for it.

Jordan's jaw tightened. "I think that this guy can. We have to warn him."

Outside the room, Liam's eyes widened in shock. He had gone looking for them and had started listening in on their conversation. Scott was at the high school with Stiles, Malia and the others and he didn't know what was coming for him. None of them did. He had to warn them. So he went and took off to do just that.

* * *

The rain was still pouring hard as the cars on the road had hardly moved at all since the heavy downpour had started. Kira was getting irritated as her nerves and impatience at the stalled traffic was building. It didn't help when her father started to try and kill the silence.

"You know, there is a legend for a storm like this," he started.

"Dad," Kira sighed. "Please don't turn a three hour traffic jam into an educational experience."

Noshiko looked over to the rear view mirror to glimpse her daughter. "He's talking about the Wild Hunt. About the Ghost Riders." That seemed to make Kira stiffen and look off to catch her mother's eyes in the mirror. Noshiko continued. "Imagine a night like this Kira, in storm clouds just like these, phantom hunters would appear riding black horses with blood-red eyes and wolves and hounds at their side, baying and snarling."

Kira felt a small chill crawl up her spine. "What were they hunting?" she asked, tensely.

Her mother was silent for a moment before she answered with just one powerful word.

"Souls."

The atmosphere was so thick that they jumped when they heard a hard roar of a motorcycle engine.

"Noshiko?" Kira's dad asked.

Kira knew that sound. "Do you hear that?" she asked.

But she didn't wait for an answer as she opened the door and threw herself out.

"Kira!" her mother called after her.

But Kira didn't stop and she stepped out into the rain. Out in the road there was a motorcycle riding in through the space between the cars, heading in her direction. Kira started running towards it as it kept heading for her.

As she ran in the rain, she passed by a teen that took special notice of what was happening and cracked his window down a bit.

Kira kept running as the bike stopped a couple of yards away from her. It's rider pulled their helmet off and she saw Scott's face looking down at her as she finally got to him.

"Did you have fun in New York?" he asked as soon as she got to him.

She smiled as she shook her head slightly. "Not really," she said a little breathlessly.

Scott smiled at her. "Good," he sighed in relief.

Then he grabbed at her chin and pulled her in for a kiss. Over a week without seeing or speaking to each other fueled into it.

Back in the car, Kira's parents noticed what was going on and they shared an exasperated but amused look.

After they had finished, Scott moved Kira to sit behind him on his bike so they can head to the school. As they took off, the boy from before let a small smirk loose as he watched them disappear off into the distance. He then looked off at the two in the front seat.

"I'm going to head off on foot from here. I'll probably be late getting back tonight. Don't wait up," he finished with a polite smile.

"Okay Theo," the woman up front said with a too eager smile.

"Have fun," the man behind the wheel said very enthusiastically.

"Oh, I will," he said before he opened his door.

Scott rode them off through the gap in the cars, through the jam and made it back into Beacon Hills limits where he then sped off for the high school. Compared to the highway, the streets were actually low in traffic and Scott was making good time. He and Kira would make it to the school in time for Scribe with the others. Stiles had been going over this not with him but Lydia, Malia and Kira before she took off with her parents, making sure that they all were there. He had been obsessing over this night for almost two weeks. Not on the same level as his 'vision' for after graduation but it was in the area.

With Peter and Kate locked away, and no new hunters or assassins coming around, Scott had hoped that he could finally have his focus back on just being a regular high school kid. Focus on school and having Kira as his girlfriend and not worry about any werewolf stuff getting in the way. It didn't turn out to be that easy or simple though. Not with Liam and Stiles in tow.

With everything having settled down, he hoped Liam would be able to adjust and be free of the stress of losing control of himself. But it turned out that even with this new peace, he still had to stay on his toes with Liam. The kid still had difficulty with control even with an anchor and managing his anger. Stiles then thought that Satomi might be able to help as she had Brett and his sister Lori as well as other young betas their age, at least before the Deadpool, but she had experience with teaching young werewolves. While he didn't like how Liam occasionally went through having sparring drills against members of her pack, Liam claimed that it was helping him learn. He did notice Liam showing great improvement in the last six months…save for his little _slip up_. Hopefully, this would mean his sophomore year would end up better than Scott's had. After tonight, he might not need to worry about Liam much.

Then there was Stiles. He had been visiting Satomi and her pack a lot that summer from what Liam had told him and a good bit of those visits involved him sparring far more than Liam, even going against Satomi. It even looked like he was trying to learn to hone in more of a werewolf's power from the Alpha and he often tried to talk Scott into joining but he found himself making excuses not to. Scott couldn't help but start to worry that Stiles might be getting too caught up in the supernatural and wasn't even going to try and be normal anymore. Scott couldn't remember the last time that he and Stiles hung out and did normal stuff like play video games or watch a movie. At least without the supernatural weaving their way in somehow. Scott could remember his friend's 'Turniversary' idea when he wanted to mark when they had been turned. Even Stiles' 'vision' for after graduation didn't seem to be leaving room for them to try and be normal as he quickly shot down his extra roommate suggestion by glowing his eyes at him.

That's why he wanted to make sure this night went right for him. It was actually something normal Stiles was putting real care in for once. Lately, Scott felt that most of his time was spent on trying on pretend to be normal. But with Senior Scribe, they could relax and actually be normal with all the other seniors of the school. Maybe after tonight, with school starting again, along with them reining as co-captains of the lacrosse team, Stiles would let his focus start to come away from the supernatural and back to normal stuff.

"Looks like we're going to make it," Kira called out behind him.

"Yeah," Scott sighed as they saw the lights of the school peeking through the rain.

When they made it, they ran for cover to get away from the rain that hadn't let up the whole time they had been out.

"Where are they?" Kira said, laughing a bit as she wiped the rain from her face. "Are we too late?"

Scott checked his watch and found that it wasn't quite midnight yet. He shook his head. "No, they're just not here yet."

She looked up to see that there was a big toothy smile up on Scott's face. "What are you smiling at?" she asked him.

"You," he answered.

That made Kira move to kiss him and they tumbled back until they were against a wall. They began to make out for a bit when Kira pulled back suddenly. She thought she heard a growl but it didn't sound like it came from Scott. Scott narrowed his eyes before he heard it too.

They then turned and saw someone pushing through the falling water beyond their cover. He brandished his fangs as well his very large talons. He roared at them before he launched for them.

* * *

When Scott left them at the hospital, Stiles brought Malia to his jeep and they drove off for the school. But they didn't go in right away. They stayed in the car, lightly kissing and playfully laughing with each other while the rain pounded outside. Malia went and pulled away slightly.

"Hey, I'm going to come over tonight."

"Yeah?" Stiles panted out a bit as he let his fingers dance over her cheek.

She nodded. "I did have fun with my dad these last few weeks but it got lonely when it came time to sleep. I missed you having you there with me," she said softly.

Stiles backed a bit to gaze at her face, her eyes better. "Yeah…I missed you too." Sleeping always did seem to come easier and better when he had Malia with him. And recently, he had a good share of restless nights. "But, you just got back today. Won't your dad be upset you just came back with me without asking him?"

"No, I did. When we were heading out to meet you. I told him not to wait up for me tonight because I was going to stay with you after."

Stiles raised his eyebrows surprisingly at that. "And he was okay with it?"

Malia shrugged. "Well he kinda was upset at first. But I told him that I really missed you and how better it always made me feel after I slept with you. Before I could finish asking, he said I could as long as I didn't keep talking about it."

' _I bet_ ,' Stiles thought as he nervously scratched at the back of his head.

Mr. Tate would've found that she was causing him to visualize something uncomfortable about him and his daughter even though she meant that they more often just slept in the same bed together. Malia often didn't realize how awkward she worded things sometimes.

But Stiles found it adorable and funny at times and let a small giggle loose. "Okay then, but, I get to be the big spoon tonight." Stiles rose his left eyebrow a bit flirtatiously.

She gave him a toothy smile. "Uh…we'll see." They moved to share another kiss but broke apart when a car went and parked in the spot next to them. The people in there came out and cheered as they ran off for the school through the pouring rain. "Maybe we should head on in now?"

"Yeah," he breathed.

They quickly threw themselves out of the jeep and made for cover. They stayed to the side as they observed all the other seniors running for shelter but in seemingly high spirits.

"Wow," Malia said as she saw the smiles and eager expressions on all the seniors' faces. "Can you smell that?"

"Yeah," Stiles mumbled. "They're all excited." Even with this hard and heavy rain, he could detect the excitable emotions coming off all of them when he sniffed the air. They were all eager for Senior Scribe.

He turned towards the front doors and caught sight of pair of seniors who went and gave each other a high five before lowering their hands for a fist bump. No doubt something only for them being best friends. It reminded him of the one that he and Scott had made last year but he couldn't remember the last time they ever did it. The two senior guys then went on into the school and Stiles couldn't help but let his shoulders slump.

While Stiles was distracted by the scene, Malia had taken out her phone and texted Lydia and asked where she was. She quickly responded back that she was already there. She quickly responded that she and Stiles were too right before her nose crinkled. She took some sniffs and realized it was Stiles. His chemo signal completely changed. She wasn't hiding the sniffing though and it made Stiles turn around and startled the both of them.

"You smell terrible all of a sudden."

Every guy wanted his girlfriend to say that to them. "Gee thanks," he sighed. "It's called anxiety. I'm anxious. It seems to be a normal thing for me these days so you should probably get used to it," he trailed off.

"What's wrong?" She looked back at all the seniors heading into the school. "Is it because Scott and Kira aren't here yet?"

"No, well, I guess that's part of it."

"Why is all this so important to you?"

"It's not," he said. Malia then gave him a look that said that she clearly didn't believe that. He rolled his eyes. "Okay, maybe a little. But…I don't know. I'm worried if it'll feel as great as I thought it would."

"What do you mean?"

He dropped his gaze from her a bit. "I asked my dad about his high school friends a little while back. Guess how many he still talks to?" But he didn't give her a chance to guess. "None. Not a single one. You know, these were his best friends and he says that he just lost touch with them. And I even talked with Satomi and her second Wilson about their high school friends; basically the same happened with them. Then I started thinking, you know like I usually do."

Malia nodded. "Obsessively."

"Yeah," he nodded back. "Why is it expected that we're all supposed to just go our separate ways after we graduate? I've already found the people that matter most to me and I don't want to lose touch with them. But I've started to worry that maybe they might sort of be telling me the truth."

She remembered how worried he was back at the hospital when Scott left to go get Kira. "You're talking about Scott."

"You know, we've been friends since fourth grade. Scott's been not just my best friend, he's like my brother. Lately though, I can't help but feel that we're already starting to drift away. Just like my dad and his friends from high school. So…I can't help but start thinking that maybe Scott and I are friends now but what if we're not friends for life?"

Those thoughts have been wracking his mind in the last few days. This summer, they didn't really hang with or see each other too much, unlike last summer where they saw and hung out constantly. True, Scott was busy with summer school, his internship at the hospital and working at the clinic while Stiles had been spending a lot of time with Malia, Satomi and her pack, along with Liam. Yet Stiles found he hadn't even noticed the change until a few days ago.

"But doesn't that just happen sometimes?" asked Malia, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Yeah, it does because we just let it happen. You know, if I've already found the best people in my life then why don't I just try to stay with them?"

"Well, I thought that was the plan. The dream."

"The vision. And don't mock the vision."

"I…I like the vision." Malia then moved up to him. "Especially if I'm part of it." Stiles brought his eyes to look square at hers. "So that's why you wanted everyone here together tonight? You don't want to lose your friends."

"And I hope they don't want to lose me either."

Looking back, the last year seemed to feel like he and Scott's rhythm had done a 180. He couldn't help but wonder if Scott noticed the change…and if he even cared as much as he did. Especially after their argument earlier tonight, and him now getting angry over upset whenever Scott flinches away from his eyes. After being with so many people, strangers, having no problems looking him in his 'eyes' the last couple of months, he couldn't help but get angry his best friend couldn't. Derek had told him that Scott would get over it and just needed time. Stiles didn't know how long he was expecting to wait.

Malia started to move in closer to him. "Well I know I don't."

Stiles felt the weight on his chest get lighter and his face softened a bit. The two of them let their eyes catch each other for a moment in a gentle stare before they moved to catch each other's lips again. Stiles moved to wrap his arms around Malia while she moved her hands to rub against his cheek and the back of his neck as they lightly made out against the hard rain coming down around them. But, Malia suddenly jerked herself away.

"Mal?" Stiles asked as she suddenly looked tense.

"Someone's coming," she told him. "Someone fast."

He narrowed his eyes as he let his senses branch out. "Yeah, you're right," he mumbled. But then he caught a familiar scent. "Wait," he cried, but it was too late.

A fraction of a second after he called that out, Malia had moved in and threw her hand out to intercept who ran up to them and pinned him to the ground.

Liam's back slammed flat into the pavement. "Ahh," he cried out as Malia's hand crushed him.

Stiles took a step back. "Liam? What are you doing here?" He was supposed to be at the hospital.

Liam looked up at them. "Scott's in trouble," he grunted out through the pressure that Malia was still holding him down with.

Stiles' eyes widened. "What the hell are you talking about?!" He reached down and went to pull Liam to his feet.

"Your dad. He brought Parrish to the hospital. He was attacked and I heard him tell him and Scott's mom that the guy is looking for him to want to take his power. Where is he? I thought he was with you guys."

"Scott left to get Kira," Malia told him before turning back to Stiles. "Do you think they made it?"

Their ears then picked up an echo of a howl through the rain and they stiffened. It sounded like it came from around the other end of the courtyard.

"I think so," Stiles grunted before he took off in a run with Malia and Liam on his tail.

* * *

Scott shifted and he stood his ground as this unknown werewolf stomped over for him. He tried to cut off his attacker's advance with a swipe of his claws but the guy answered with a swipe of his talons. They managed to cut through Scott's defense and had him tumbling back in pain.

Kira quickly moved for her metallic belt and thrust it out of the loops and hit the hidden trigger. The links came together and it turned into her custom sword that she and her parents made for her. She cut the air a few times, getting a feel for her new weapon as she never had the chance to use it before. Yet her opponent didn't seem worried as he smirked at her as she pointed her weapon at him. She moved to strike at him but he stepped away and then ducked away her next attack. He struck at her with his talons but Kira sidestepped and avoided it by a hair. She quickly spun and sent a slash at the guy's head but he growled as he ducked away from it. He came up behind her and sent another slash at her and his talons managed to make contact. Kira cried out in pain as she fell face first into a large puddle on the ground.

After he struck down Kira, he turned to look down at Scott who was writhing a bit on the ground. "A True Alpha?" he mocked. "Where's your power Scott?"

The next moment, Scott rose his head up to face him. "Who are you?' Scott spat.

The guy growled. "A devoted fan. Show me the man that defeated Deucalion and Gerard Argent. I came for that Alpha. Come on!" he roared out in challenge.

Scott answered with a hard roar as threw himself to his feet and moved to send two slashes at his upper arms and sent a hard kick to his face. The guy took a step back but quickly shrugged it off. He just leered at Scott before starting to move for him. Scott quickly swiped and clawed at his face and it made him flinch in pain. Scott then tried to swipe at him again but the guy moved to catch and lock his hand under his left arm before moving his right to grab at Scott's throat. He then moved and threw Scott against the opposite wall where he then lifted him up by his throat and tightened it harder to cut off his air.

He then threw Scott to the ground when Kira screamed as she came at him with her sword again. She thrust her blade but he moved making her miss and the blade bounced off the wall. She tried to make a spin slash at him but he swiped it away before he moved to grab her wrist. He squeezed it, making her gasp out in pain, before he threw her away.

He then turned back to Scott. "I didn't come just to claim your status." He then brought up the hand with the talons as they glowed bright blue. It was unspoken. He came to claim his life.

But then a figure jumped down from the other end of the terrace and his roared filled the air. He then ran off to the wall next to them and bounced off it before he made a swipe at the enemy and made him flinch back. Scott blinked, and for a second, he thought it might be Stiles. Yet, he could see the glow of golden yellow eyes which meant that it wasn't him. This new guy moved and then sent a claw strike right at the guy's right thigh and made him bend down in pain. But the guy grabbed him before he could make another attack and threw him off to the side like he did Kira.

Scott moved to stand up but the guy moved his talons in and stabbed them through Scott's chest. Scott groaned out as the guy pushed his talons further into him. He blinked as the crimson glow of his eyes started to dim. The guy happily snarled as Scott could see a bit of red start to seep into his eyes. The more his own eyes dimmed, the brighter red this guy's eyes seem to get. His legs were rocking and they began to give out as Kira and the new guy tried to move to their feet.

But then Stiles, Liam and Malia ran into the terrace and they eyes widened at the sight of Scott being held up at clawpoint. The three of them quickly shifted and gave a collected roar that made the guy's head snap over to them in surprise at the three new shapeshifters ready to challenge him. The roar also seemed to stimulate Scott. He felt a fire burn in through his ears that seemed to go right to his eyes. They started to glow bright red again and Scott growled under his breath making the guy turn his gaze back on him again. Scott then moved his hand to the guy's wrist and gave it a hard twist. It was so strong that it broke it and made the bone start to stick out. He pulled away as he took a knee and whimpered in pain. The talons had come off and were still stuck in Scott's chest but he moved and pulled them out and threw them to the ground.

Scott then stood over to speak down to him. "I don't know who you are or what you thought you were going to do but I'll give you a choice. You can stay and I'll break something else. Or you can run." Normally, Scott wouldn't resort to something like this but he found he didn't care right now. This was supposed to be a normal night with his friends and this guy tried to ruin it. Scott was beyond pissed.

"I'd run," Stiles spoke out. He then snarled before he lifted his foot and slammed it down on the pavement making a small crack on impact. "Far and fast." Malia and Liam snarled themselves as they stood on either side of him.

The guy looked over to gaze at each one of them before he got up and quickly hightailed out of there. As he ran off, Scott got up and Kira moved to him and held her hand out in concern. Stiles and the others moved over to them, each shifting their faces back to normal, with Scott going back after all of them. But they then turned to look at the newcomer, who had his face back to normal too. Stiles narrowed his eyes as his face came into focus. Malia felt something in her chest twist and fall to her stomach at the sight of him. Kira immediately remembered him as the kid from the highway. Liam was just plain confused.

He smiled as he stepped over to the group. He looked over at Scott. "You don't remember me, do you? I guess I look a little different since fourth grade."

At the mention of fourth grade, Scott's eyes widened. An image of a short haired boy came to him whose smile seemed to mirror this guy's. "Theo?" he gasped out in shock.

Theo nodded and he gave them a toothy smile.

Malia looked over at Scott. "You know him?"

"They used to," he said. "Trust me, I never thought I'd see you guys again." He looked from Scott to Stiles whose face was a bit blank. "A couple of months ago, I heard of an Alpha in Beacon Hills. When I found out his name was Scott McCall, just couldn't believe it." He looked back at Scott and his smile widened. "And not just an Alpha, but a True Alpha," he said in slight adulation.

Scott swallowed a bit at the praise before he nodded. "What do you want?"

"I came back to Beacon Hills, back home with my family, because I want to be a part of your pack." Stiles' eyes were now narrowed in suspicion while Scott's eyes had widened in surprise. "It's okay. You don't have to give me an answer yet. I guess it isn't the best time right now but I'll be around and you can give me an answer when you're ready."

He then moved to head on out as they all watched him disappear into the rain. As the water poured over him, he let a smirk creep on him. He had ran to the school from the highway and had arrived just in time to make a good first impression with Scott. He seemed happy to see an old friend again though, he could tell that Stiles wasn't as quickly taken but that's to be expected. The important thing was the doctor's first project played his part well. He can only guess what was going to happen to him now but Theo didn't care less. The guy's job was done.

* * *

Soon, after Scott told Liam to head back to the hospital and tell his mother and the Sheriff that he was alright, they headed into the school. Stiles started speaking as soon as they got through the front doors.

"Scott, we haven't seen this kid in years and now suddenly he's back and is a werewolf, you don't find that highly suspicious?"

"I'm kind of more concerned about the guy who just tried to kill me," Scott said back.

"Yeah," Kira said behind the boys making them turn to look at her and Malia. "And what was he? What kind of werewolf has talons?"

"We probably should've asked him before we let him get away," Malia suggested.

"There you are!" They turned over to look at Lydia approaching them. "Where have you guys been? The whole senior class is here. Are we doing this or not?"

The four of them sighed before they turned to head on off. Stiles hooked his arm over Malia while Scott hooked his over Kira who hooked in Lydia as they walked. The issues of this new attacker and Theo could wait. Right now, they had Senior Scribe.

In the library, the seniors had gathered and lined up as they moved some books off the book cases to expose the surface of the shelves. There was writing on some of them and they moved the books off to free up the space that was still free and clean. They began to inscribe their initials in permanent marker before they passed it over and moved off to let the next one do it.

When it got to Stiles' turn he moved to find a spot. His eyes fell on a D.H. inscribed. He sighed as he moved his finger to dance over it and he had a momentary flash. He saw the image of the young Derek Hale excitedly take a marker from his friend and verbally claim it was his turn. He then bent down and wrote in his initials. He then smiled off at his friends as he went to pass the marker down to the next person. Stiles blinked as he found himself staring back down at his own hands.

"Stiles?" Lydia asked from behind him. "You okay?"

"Yeah," he sighed. He gave his head a shake before he moved and wrote in M.S. in what he felt was a good spot before passing the pen to Lydia.

She found a spot and wrote L.M. in a good clear font before handing the pen over to Kira.

She thought of the talk with her parents earlier. "This isn't vandalism, is it?"

Lydia tilted her head a bit. "Not technically."

Kira then wrote K.Y. right below Lydia's initials before passing it to Malia. Malia went and placed an M next to theirs but stopped. Her initials for her name but Malia had two names, as she remembered what it had listed her as in the Deadpool. Yet, her time with her father came to mind, as well as his parting wink to her made a small smile creep onto her and she finished with a solid T.

Scott then moved to write in his initials, S.M. but he lingered on it. He then moved to write A.A. below it. His friends had been standing behind him and they saw what he had wrote and knew who it was for, Allison.

Lydia caught his eye. "She's still with us you know," she told him.

Scott nodded. "Yeah, I do. And she always will be."

They all just stood there, silently staring off at it. Scott wrapped his arm around Kira and they looked at it together as they embraced. He turned his head slightly to see that Stiles was staring at him, with a blank look on his face. Scott couldn't read it and he didn't know what was going through his friend's mind. In truth, Stiles didn't either because he didn't know how to feel. Allison will always be a sour subject for him.

Scott then began to move off with Kira to head on out. Malia moved to follow them but Stiles stayed put.

"I'll catch up in a second," he told her. Malia nodded before she headed off and he looked over at the guy who had the pen. "Can I have that for a sec?"

The guy gave a nod and handed it to him. Stiles then moved to where he saw Derek's initials. There was some space around them so he wrote an E.R. to the left, a V.B. above and finished with an I.L. to the right, all in smaller sizes then the D.H. Stiles felt it was only right. Allison wasn't the only one of them that was lost. Those three were Derek's betas and they would've wanted to be with their Alpha like this, had they been given this chance. Stiles then turned around and found that Lydia had seen what he just did. She didn't say anything but moved to take the pen and headed for the shelf. She moved to where her initials were. She then wrote in a J.W. to the left and an A.S. to the right of her L.M before writing an E.S. next to his brother's. She then handed the pen over to the next guy in line before looking over at Stiles. They just shared a nod before they moved to join the others and they headed out of the library together.

* * *

At the Dread Doctors lab, their 'specimen' returned after battling with the Alpha, wounded and pleading.

"Give me another chance. I can do it, with a little more power. I just need more power."

The three of them then started to walk up to him and saw that not only was he wounded but his talons were also gone. The Surgeon moved and brandished his cane up and unsheathed the blade underneath it. At the sight, their specimen started to cry and beg. They were indifferent to it.

"Your condition worsens," the Surgeon said through the crying.

"I'm okay. Really, just please, give me another chance."

"You were supposed to remove the obstacles. Our time is limited."

"Whatever you're here to do, I can help."

But the Surgeon shook his head. "No second chances."

"But I can help!" the man cried.

"No Second Chances," the Surgeon repeated, this time with the Geneticist and Pathologist joining in.

The Surgeon then speared his blade into the man's chest and he fell to the ground with a pained cry. As he lay dying, crows began to crawl out of the cut and fly off.

* * *

Virgil was underneath an elevated car, tweaking with some parts that had been dinged up by what he heard was driving into a fallen tree. He had already taken out some pieces of bark and leaves and had placed them over in a small pile on the workbench nearby. Now he was loosening some parts to check the extent of the damage. The car's owner was sitting off in a bench in the reception area while Virgil was working and his boss was in his office checking with the guy's insurance. When he finished replacing and mending the broken parts, Virgil wiped some sweat from his brow and headed off for his boss' office.

"Come in," his boss said after he knocked.

Virgil opened the door and slid his head in the crack. "All done," he told him.

The man looked at his watch. "In less than two hours?"

"The damage wasn't as severe as we thought. Only two parts had to be replaced completely and I salvaged the rest. So it should be about 200 dollars extra."

"I see," his boss muttered. He made a mark on the charge forms he had ready. "You didn't tell the customer you were done yet, did you?"

Virgil nodded. "I did, right when I finished. And I also gave him the estimate."

The man's jaw tightened a bit. "I see. So a two-hour charge rate then. Well thank you Virgil."

Virgil gave a slight nod before he turned to leave and then let a small side smirk creep up. "You could thank me by actually paying me when I work," he mumbled as he walked off.

His boss was ticked off at him, he could tell. But, he also knew that the miserable bastard couldn't fire him outright because Virgil was the only one that would put up with his cheap skating. Any rate Virgil didn't care.

He started to move for the bathroom to freshen up when he was stopped as he passed through the waiting area. The customer moved to flag him down.

"Excuse me," the guy said. "I just wanted to say thanks again for fixing my car up so fast. From what your boss said when he picked me up, I was half afraid I might have to spend the night sleeping here."

Virgil fought the urge to snort. Yeah, that didn't shock him. No doubt his boss thought he could swindle this guy ' _And I'm supposed to be the criminal around here_ ,' he thought glumly to himself.

"It's no problem man," Virgil tried to wave off. "The damage wasn't that bad. I'll lower your car back down in a few minutes and you'll be set."

The customer sighed. "That's a relief. Oh, and this is for you." He then pulled out a fifty and held it out for him.

"That's okay," said Virgil, his hand out in protest. He didn't like anything that made him feel like he were any kind of a charity case.

But the customer didn't put away. "No, I insist. Hey, I can't help but feel that if it hadn't been for you then I would've spent a lot more than this."

Virgil was feeling uncomfortable and just wanted this to be over already so he just lightly took it. "Thank you," he nodded in gratitude.

He then took off and went outside to where the rain was still falling though not as hard as before and he stood under the garage's awning. Virgil looked at the watch on his wrist to see that it was already over half passed midnight. It was the night right before the new school year started. That meant that the Senior Scribe at the high school should be just about over right about now. He took some time to remember that he had gone to that event this time just last year.

Normally he didn't like social events, mostly because nobody in his class wanted to socialize with him. With all the talk made about him when he moved here, he wasn't surprised but it hadn't really bothered him. Most at that school were rich, spoiled, selfish and/or whiny pricks and he'd had more experience and memories of them than he wanted as it was. Yet, the whole idea of Senior Scribe had been something he actually thought was pretty cool. To leave your mark along with all the others that had gone through those halls and ready to leave them for the world outside. It was something that he couldn't help but respect. Though he didn't leave his with along the sea of other students one after the other like everyone else did. He had gone to that school alone, left it alone, so his mark should be alone. His initials, V.E., he had tagged into one of the shelves at the school library that was off to the side, in the shadows. It was a part of the library he had found void of any marks and couldn't help but find it perfect for him.

He turned and caught sight of the customer moving to wait in front of his car. Virgil yanked out his tarot deck and shuffled them to prepare to see what his card was when something seemed to come at him out of nowhere. He was startled and he ended up dropping a card. It fell face first into the damp pavement and he quickly moved to pick it up before it could get ruined. He started to fan it a bit when he looked up as he heard a small 'caw' sound. He looked to see a crow nestling on one of the awning's support beams and it was looking down at him. He guessed that's what came at him. He shook the card for another few seconds before he turned it around to see that it didn't look like it had been ruined. Virgil narrowed his eyes when he saw that it was the Wheel of Fortune. It was upside down in its reversed position. The same position that he had drawn it this morning. He heard another caw from the crow and looked back up at it before it cawed one more time and flew off. It was then followed by a small flock of crows as they flew off towards the distance, cawing as a group.

Virgil felt a chill crawl down his spine despite how warm and humid it was out.


	5. Parasomnia

Chapter 4: Parasomnia

The woods were quiet with the light of the full moon giving a decent amount of light through the trees. Stiles was running through the trees, moving as fast as he could. He found a small gorge up ahead and he leapt hard at the edge and he flew off into the air for the other side. Time seemed to gradually slow down for Stiles as he was in the air until it seemed to fully stop when his landed firmly on the ground. He was kneeling on the ground, inhaling the deep smell of the earth beneath him.

He then stood up and was about to keep running off, but he nearly fell when he felt something suddenly pierce his shoulder. He grunted as he straightened up and looked to see an arrow sticking out of his shoulder. A hard swish sounded in the air as another arrow flew from the trees and stuck itself in his other shoulder. Stiles gasped out in pain but managed to stay on his feet. He then rose his head to the sky and let out a hard predatorial roar that seemed to vibrate through the forest. As soon as he roared, he then felt as three more arrows moved to stick themselves into his chest, one after the other. Stiles' breath was caught his throat as the pressure of the arrows pressed into his chest. His knees were shaking but he still stayed on his feet, barely. He looked down and grasped the shaft of one of them yet seemed to lack the strength to pull it out. He then heard a sound ahead of him and he looked up to see the one who he called for with his howl.

"Scott!" he gasped out as he rose a shaky hand out to him.

Scott stood there, looking horrified for him, but also torn and hesitant. His friend then turned to look off into the shadows and Stiles saw the dark shape of someone standing there with a bow raised on hand. An outline of the girl and she moved to grab an arrow from her quiver and readied it into her bow as she aimed it at Stiles. Scott was turning his gaze back and forth, as if wrestling with a choice. Stiles or his attacker.

"I'm sorry," Scott mumbled before he turned himself firmly at the archer's direction, making his choice.

She then drew the arrow on the bowstring and Stiles could make out her jawline tightening before she then let go and fired. The arrow came flying for Stiles' head in what felt like slow motion. Stiles blinked as it moved right for him.

Stiles then gasped out as he found himself not staring at Death's door but the ceiling of his room. He was breathing rapidly, his body stiff as a board from the pressure in his chest. After a moment, Stiles found himself able to sit up and he looked down at his chest to find them free of arrows. He was still breathing hard, and sweating a bit, as he looked down to find Malia sleeping soundly right next to him. She was facing in his direction and the sight of her peaceful expression began to calm his hard breathing. He lightly moved the blanket off and sat straight up at the edge, making sure to not stir and wake her up. He wiped the sweat from his brow and his heartbeat began to settle. He soon found himself over his bathroom sink and was splashing cool water on his face. After a while, he moved to wipe himself clean with his towel, but his eyes stayed on the mirror.

When he finished, Stiles moved back into his room and saw the alarm clock by his bedside read that it was a quarter to five in the morning. Malia was still sleeping peacefully and he took a moment to look at her gentle face before he made way for his window. It was still raining somewhat so the full moon wasn't visible but Stiles could still feel it through the clouds. He sighed as he let his forehead bump against the glass. He was wishing he could see it right now, to take his mind away far away from that nightmare.

"Ah boy," he mumbled as he stared out.

Stiles wasn't a stranger to nightmares, especially this one. Getting shot by arrows in the woods with him calling out to Scott, it wasn't the first time he'd had that nightmare. And it wasn't just once before but dozens of times over the last year, starting after that night he had been in the Argent's basement. It would always play out the same way and he'd always wake up like he just now; in a cold sweat and feel paralyzed for about two or three seconds with a hard pressure in his chest. While it wasn't his only nightmare surrounding Allison, it was one of his stronger ones. But it had been a good couple of months since he suffered from this nightmare; since Mexico actually. A part of him thought he'd seen the last of at least this one but he could only guess that seeing Scott write in Allison's initials earlier stirred it back up again.

"Damn." Stiles drew his head back and let his forehead bounce against his window a little harder than he expected.

"Stiles?"

Stiles jerked a bit as he looked over to see that Malia was sitting up in his bed.

"Malia," his voice cracked out before he cleared his throat. "Uh sorry, did I wake you?"

"Are you okay?" she asked him, disregarding his question.

He cleared his throat. "Yeah, just a little bad dream, that's all. I think I'm just a little agitated."

Malia gave a nod. "Well, it was a crazy night."

Stiles let out a breathless chuckle. He thought that couldn't be more of an understatement. On top of all the emotional issues, they just had a werewolf with some kind of super claws come and try to kill Scott and a kid from their past suddenly show up and was a werewolf. He would need to talk with his dad about that last one. Something about that last one didn't sit right with him.

He then sighed. "I'm sorry I woke you, but you should try and get some more sleep. You don't want to be tired for the first day back at school."

"What about you?"

He shook his head. "I don't think I can get any more sleep now."

"Let's see if I can help with that." Malia then sat up and scooched over to the side of the bed and then patted the space next to her.

Stiles rose his eyebrows at that one but Malia just patted the mattress again. He shrugged and headed over and moved to lay back down. He turned to face her but she pushed at his shoulders to turn him over so that his back was facing her. She then moved to lay down and scooched closer to him and wrapped her arms around him. She then moved to let her cheek rest on the side of his head as she moved to spoon him.

Stiles couldn't help but let out a small content moan as she began to rub her hand along his arm and let her bare leg graze against his bare feet affectionately. He let himself lean back into her hold and he closed his eyes when Malia's nose began grazing the edge of his ear. "Thank you," he mumbled.

"Sleep," she told him.

Staring at his face, she could see that Stiles was still feeling tense and anxious over what had woken him up but the anxiety she was picking up from him was slowly ebbing away as she kept rubbing herself against him. As she let her nose graze against over his temple, she noticed that his hand that was resting on his pillow was slowly and softly making left and right spiral movements as he tried to relax. Malia kept holding and rubbing him for a while, and soon she began hearing some light snoring. She broke into a small smile as she rested her head on his shoulder and went back to sleep herself.

* * *

Natalie Martin was calmly sipping some morning coffee from her mug as she watched the morning news. It seemed like it was going to be a nice day after that big storm they had last night. She turned away when she heard her daughter's footsteps as she came into the kitchen. She was fully dressed and prepared with her bag already strapped over her shoulder.

"Morning sweetie," Natalie said as she moved over for her.

Lydia looked her mom up and down. She was a wearing her glasses and had her favorite pearl necklace on with matching earrings, which was all complimented by a business dress. "Someone's dressed to impress today."

Natalie looked herself down for a moment before she smiled at her daughter. "Well, I felt like dressing up a bit more than usual. It's not just the first day back but it's my first official day as the school's new guidance counselor. I have my first appointment today."

"Oh yeah," Lydia nodded. She had almost forgotten. Ms. Morrell had left and her mother decided to try applying. She had to go to some seminars during the summer but she was given the green light for it. "My fingers are crossed for the one to first get your sage advice." She then lifted her hand to show her crossed fingers to her mother.

Natalie rolled her eyes. "Thank you for your support Lydia."

Lydia tilted her head. "You're welcome," she said simply to her.

Natalie smiled at her and Lydia smiled back.

"What about you? You only have one class in your schedule, right?"

"Don't worry mom, I have something to occupy my time."

"It wouldn't have something to do with a certain young deputy, would it?" Lydia rose her eyes a bit and Natalie narrowed her eyes. "Don't look so surprised. I do pay attention to some of the things my daughter does in her free time, and with who."

"Oh, if you only knew," she mumbled a bit to herself. She had a feeling that if her mom knew all the things that she had been involved in the last year and a half she wouldn't let her out of her sight ever again. But then Lydia rose her tone back up. "It's not what you think mom. Jordan and I are just friends."

During the last six months, Lydia had been spending more and more time with Jordan to try and help him crack the mystery of what he was. They had gone through as much lore as they could find in order to try and find answers. But they hadn't had much luck. The Argent's bestiary didn't have answers so they tried going off to the nearest university library though it turned out to be a dead end. When Lydia learned that Stiles and Liam had been meeting with Satomi and her pack to help the young beta learn control, she thought that she might have some answers. Satomi had a good collection of lore in her study and she allowed Lydia to borrow some. She and Jordan were still reading some of them but they worked together to try and make sense of it all.

Natalie held a hand up to her. "You don't have to be defensive, I understand. You're 18, a young woman now, and Deputy Parrish I admit is quite the attractive young man. If I were ten years younger I'd might also-"

Lydia quickly cut her mother off there. "It's not like that. We're just working on something, that's all, I swear."

Her mom nod but she still had a mischievous smile on her. "Okay. Just know you can still talk to me. I will understand. I know how easy it is to fall for a guy in uniform."

"Oh really? Is that a clue about this mysterious date you have planned Friday night?"

"The point is," Natalie said sharply. "I just want you to be careful honey."

"It'll be alright mom. Jordan's a really sweet guy. If anything, you should probably be more worried for him than me. Now go and get to work."

Natalie laughed as she moved to grab her purse. "Be good."

"You too," Lydia called back.

When Natalie got to the school, she waited in her office as her first student walked in. It was a senior girl by the name of Tracy Stewart. She'd been having some problems with sleeping and was starting to suffer from an emerging case of insomnia. Her father had signed her up for counseling when they started escalating into delusional and screaming fits. Natalie sat and listened as Tracy started talking about one that happened to her just last night.

Tracy began telling the story of how she had been in her bed when suddenly some ravens and crows woke her up. The storm was raging on outside and they were fluttering around her skylight window, pecking at it and cawing. They were trying to get in and Tracy had moved to try and close and latch it shut to keep them away. She managed to do it but the chair she was standing on was grabbed by something and she fell.

"My dad found me on the floor, lying beside the chair," she finished.

"What about the skylight?" asked Natalie.

"That's the thing. It doesn't actually open. It was sealed shut a couple of years ago to weather proof it."

"So, some of it was definitely a dream."

Tracy leaned in desperately. "And some of it wasn't."

"Honey," she said gently. "I'm going to propose that most of it was. You know, there's a theory that one of the biological functions of dreaming is to simulate threatening events. It's a way for our brain to rehearse dealing with them. I think you're dealing with normal anxiety Tracy. The kind that's very common to seniors."

Natalie was guessing that the pressures of what was to come after high school was doing this to Tracy. She knew that hers, as well as all other seniors, were about to lose their comfort zones when they left to head out into the world. She remembered how it was at her age. Like most, she couldn't wait to finally leave high school and being a kid behind and go out and enjoy her freedom out there. Only after did she realize that this all had been the easy part. And there were some out there that knew or felt that before they left high school. She could feel that Tracy might be one of them.

Tracy sighed. "I better go. Class is going to be starting soon."

But as she got up, Tracy began to cough. And it started escalating where she had to hold the desk for support. Natalie quickly got up to help her as the girl started coughing louder and harder. It was as if she had something stuck in her throat. Tracy suddenly bent over and hacked out a black mess of goo on her desk.

"God," Natalie gasped out as she eyed all of it.

Tracy then moved to pick up what seemed to be a piece of a black feather. "Is this common?" she slurred out.

* * *

Scott was at the clinic for a quick session before he had to head over for school, and he needed to talk to Deaton. Right now, Deaton was giving him one of the run throughs for the techniques of giving injections proper injections to the animals. Scott held the needle over the point where he had to stick it into the dog.

Deaton was at the side, calmly talking him through it. "Remember, for intramuscular injections in the hind leg-"

"Stay clear of the sciatic nerve," Scott finished. He then started to move the needle in to perform the injection.

"Excellent. Aspirate back to make sure you haven't hit a vein. Then just keep the needle still."

Scott then stuck it in and pushed on the plunger. Just as he moved to take it out, the dog bared its teeth and growled at him, startling them a bit. Scott quickly moved to try and settle him down.

Deaton let a laugh escape him. "He's a little one but his teeth are still sharp."

"Sorry buddy," Scott said as he moved to help him off the table. He then brought him to the little girl who owned him. "Here you go Stephanie," he said, handing her the dog.

"Thank you, Dr. McCall," she said meekly.

That made both Scott and Deaton give her a look.

Scott shook his head. "I'm not a doctor yet," he told her. Though, he knew that's what he wanted. Working at the animal clinic, and working his internship at the hospital, he really enjoyed it.

The girl took her dog away and Scott went back over to Deaton as he was back to analyzing the long claws Scott ripped off his attacker.

"Find anything yet?" Scott asked.

"Maybe, are you sure this guy was a werewolf? As far as I can tell these claws are actually talons. In fact, they're the talons of a harpy eagle, one of the largest known birds of prey."

Scott narrowed his eyes. "How does a werewolf get talons?"

"Personally, I'm more interested in how these talons somehow were able to absorb your power. The only one who should be able to do that is a Beta of your own making."

"Someone like Liam?"

"Exactly."

Because he was a True Alpha and he didn't get his power by killing another Alpha for it, it couldn't just be taken away like other Alpha's powers could.

"What about Stiles? I didn't turn him but Peter thought he could do it since he turned the two of us together."

Deaton resisted the urge to flinch at that. He didn't share the revelation he had discovered over six months ago about how Stiles truly became a werewolf. He had discovered the truth when he went to Eichen House and spoke to Valack to induce himself into a special meditative state. In that state he learned that before Stiles had been bitten by Peter Hale, he had fallen into a puddle of a wolf's pawprint and had accidentally ingested water from it. And not any normal wolf either, but a print that had belonged to Laura Hale. In truth, it was that which turned Stiles into a werewolf, not a bite from Peter.

"Stiles is…a special case. His situation is quite unique. He was turned into a werewolf but then had been made human again and then was turned back into a werewolf. In a sense, his second turning was through you. Not to mention you two share a strong connection so it might not have been impossible. Though, now that you proclaimed him your Second, that's all a mute point. He would take in your power upon your death, so long as no one steals it. That's not a position to be given or taken lightly."

Scott couldn't help but feel that Deaton just gave him a warning.

"And what about if I were to let another Beta join my pack?" he then asked, the thought of Theo asking if he could join him coming to mind. "Could they do it?"

"Well, normally I would say no but I'm starting to wonder if the rules of our supernatural world aren't as rigid as I once thought." He then took the talon out for them both to examine it. "Or maybe someone's trying to change those rules."

Scott began to detect that there was some fear coming from Deaton. Something about this thing was scaring him. He always felt Deaton was one of the bravest people he knew. Even when facing angry werewolves or sword wielding Oni, his boss never lost his cool. For him to be reacting like this, he couldn't help but feel his insides start chilling a bit.

When Scott told him that he had to head out, Deaton watched him solemnly as he left before turning back to the talons on his desk, a bit scared. He was sure Scott must've detected it, but he wouldn't know why. Deaton didn't tell him the most important thing that he discovered about the talons, he had seen them before. It was roughly ten years ago. What was scaring him was the one these talons had belonged to was dead.

"Riley Astor," he mumbled to himself. The young garuda that had come to Beacon Hills over ten years ago and had formed a bond with Laura Hale.

He would have to do some further digging before he could even bring this up to Scott or the others. They didn't need to know about this, at least not yet. There was enough on their plates already.

* * *

Stiles was following his dad into his office. He was pestering him on his suspicions of Theo's sudden return to Beacon Hills as a werewolf.

Stiles closed the door behind him. "I know his family left town around the time Theo was nine or ten. His older sister got into an accident when he was eight."

"Please go to school," Noah meekly sighed at his son.

But Stiles didn't budge. "Dad, this kid's a werewolf."

" _You_ are a werewolf," he argued. "Your _best friend_ is a werewolf. You're _dating_ a werecoyote. I still don't know what Kira's supposed to be. When the flying monkeys come soaring through this station you will have my undivided attention. Until then, just go to school," he pleaded to him with a tired gesture.

Stiles then pointed at him. "What did you do?"

"What do you mean, what did I do?"

He then began looking his dad up and down. "There's something different about you." Stiles could sense it. Something was off with his dad. Something wasn't the same.

"What are you talking about?"

Stiles suddenly walked over to be right in front of him. "What is it? What's different?"

He started to sniff the air and scan every inch of him from top to bottom. But Stiles quickly got pushed away.

"Oh for the love of god Stiles," his dad cried out. "You've been spending too much time with Malia. Okay, would just stop and go to school."

"I will go if you promise to do a full background check on the Raekens."

He shook his head. "No. You know, just because I'm the only law enforcement officer who knows about this does not make it my responsibility to do something every time you have a minor suspicion."

Stiles tilted his head a bit. "Except, you're not the only one." He then looked over to see Jordan Parrish sitting at his desk.

Noah then huffed before he moved to open his door. "Parrish," he called out to him. "I need you to help my son out with something."

Stiles gave the deputy a wave as he stood behind his dad. A few minutes later, Jordan was handing Stiles some printed sheets.

"This is all I was able to get," he said as he gave them to him. "This Theo kid, isn't he a werewolf like you? Doesn't that make you guys brothers or something?"

Stiles resisted a smirk at that phrase. "And Haigh was a deputy like you. Shouldn't that have made you brothers?"

"Touché," he breathed. "But, what I found on Theo isn't much."

Stiles began flipping through the papers. "No, but it's something."

"What's your deal with this guy anyway? You only just met him last night and didn't he help Scott?"

He shook his head. "I don't know, call it a gut feeling. Theo…I can't but feel like my instincts are telling me that something is not right with this kid."

Jordan nodded. "And, what do those instincts say about me?" he asked making Stiles look back up at him.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, last night I had no control of myself. One minute, your dad is rushing to try and help me and the next thing I know, I'm at the hospital staring him down as his gun is pointed at me because I was close to attacking him and Melissa. I had no idea what was going on or what I was doing."

"Like after Haigh tried to kill you," Stiles said as the memory of Parrish that night came back to him.

Jordan let his gaze wander. "These last six months, Lydia and I tried but still haven't been able to find any answers."

"You two had no luck with the texts you borrowed from Satomi?"

He shook his head. "We haven't finished looking through them all yet, but nothing so far. Just like everything else." He then let out a puff of air in frustration. "I don't know what I am or what I'm capable of. Even the guy who attacked me said I wasn't a normal creature, like him." When he got up that morning, he had looked in the mirror to find that he didn't even have a trace from that guy's attack on him last night. Not even a scar, as if it never happened at all. "Maybe that's why the Sheriff doesn't trust me."

That made Stiles get taken aback. "Are you kidding Parrish? My dad does trust you, a lot."

The thought of the Sheriff having him do every low down job known to law enforcement came back to Jordan. "Well then he has a funny way of showing it."

Stiles felt some resentment leak out of the deputy. He then looked towards his dad's office where he was sitting at his desk looking over some papers. His dad was giving off some anxiety and stress that he could smell all the way from here.

"Look I don't know what's going on between you and my dad right now, but what I do know is that I don't feel any bad vibes from you." Stiles could see the doubt on Parrish's face. "And I'm not just saying that. I think its clear that I don't normally trust people," he said holding up the files on Theo.

That got Parrish to crack a small smile. "Yeah."

Stiles face then began to fall a bit. "But, just so you know, if you do ever hurt my dad, Lydia, my friends, or any innocent people then I'll make sure you never do it again, ever."

That made the deputy move to catch Stiles in the eye. It dimly registered to Stiles that he technically made a threat to an officer in a police station but he batted it away. He said what he felt and he meant what he said. They stared at each other for a few more seconds before Jordan sighed.

"Weirdly enough, that actually makes me feel a little relieved. Thanks Stiles."

"Yeah, anytime," shrugged Stiles before he moved to leave.

Jordan just let his gaze drop as he felt himself settle a bit.

* * *

Maggie Carson was preparing a herb order for a client when she heard the doorbell ring. She went to wipe her hands on her smock before she headed off for the front door and opened it to see Charlie Harris, Oscar's beta of six months.

"Hi Maggie," he said as soon as she finished opening the door.

"Charlie." She ushered him inside and quickly closed the door. "I have to say that I wasn't expecting you."

"I hope I didn't catch you at a bad time," he said as he walked further into her home. "It's my lunch hour so-"

"No, no it's okay. How was your full moon last night?"

"Good. I kept my bearings for the entire night and didn't feel any slips of control. I think I got the full hang of this now."

"My, that's really impressive." The man had only been a werewolf for half a year but he was starting to carry himself like someone that had been at it for a while now. Typically it took new werewolves around a year of training before they could carry out that normally on a full moon, with an Alpha. Lycanthropy seemed to fit Charlie well. She wondered if it was due to his military training before she shook out of it. "But something tells me that you didn't come here just to tell me that."

Charlie sighed. "No. I wanted you to know that I overheard something last night. Oscar had mentioned those three again. The Hales."

Maggie tensed up. "What did he say?"

"He knows that they've decided to stay in Green Ridge. And it sounds like he wants them to stay where he can keep watching them."

Her jaw tensed a bit. "Anything else?"

"Well, Oscar knows that the Hales are still talking with you."

"Really? What does he feel about that?"

"He didn't seem too bothered by that. He sounded relieved that you were since it meant they would stay close."

"I see." That meant that Oscar might decide to begin watching her, if he wasn't already.

"Do you want to tell me what this is all about?"

She shook her head. "I'm sorry Charlie but I can't tell you that."

Charlie straightened up a bit. "You can't? You mean you won't."

"Charlie, it's just not that simple" she tried to explain.

"Of course, asking someone to spy for you rarely is. Especially when the person you want them to spy on is their leader." His face was poised as he stared at her and it made Maggie look away from him. He then sighed. "Look, I may be only six months into this whole supernatural werewolf stuff but I'm not an idiot. These Hales…I don't know why they're so important but I can tell it must be something big for Oscar to want to keep them in his sights and for you to need to spy on him as he does."

"I think you're farthest thing from an idiot Charlie. It's for your own good."

"Really? Is that why you asked me to be your spy? Out of everyone in the pack? For my own good? Now, I might not too crazy about Oscar, the guy did bite and turn me into a werewolf without my permission, but whether I like it or not he is my pack's Alpha. He's a hardass but so was my CO and I learned to respect and follow him and it might be the same thing for Oscar. I don't know if it's this werewolf pack thing or if it's from my time in the service but I can't help but feel like you're making me betray my whole unit."

"I'm…I'm sorry."

"If you're really sorry then you'll tell me what this is about. If you're asking me to spy on Oscar for you and risk myself for you then I think it's only right that I know why."

Maggie was starting to wonder if she might've made a mistake. It was a beta's natural instinct to feel a connection to their Alpha, especially if it's the one that turned them. But Charlie was recently turned and didn't seem to be too fond of him, so she felt that he was the best way for her to gain insight into what Oscar was planning. She could feel the man was up to something as he was trying to expand his pack's power and was starting to take too great an interest in the Hales, particularly Jason. Maggie feared that Oscar might just suspect the truth about the boy's father and she dreaded to think about how he might use that if confirmed. Yet, it looked like even someone like Charlie wouldn't fight his natural instinct to have loyalty to the one that bit and turned him. If he wanted to then he might just go straight to Oscar about what she was doing and it might actually make things worse.

"The truth is that I just want to protect the Hales. Derek is my friend and he's been through so much already. He lost his first love in his arms, then was betrayed by another who destroyed his family, then his older sister was killed and soon after he lost his whole pack. He thought Cora was long dead but she came back and he got a new nephew too. I don't want anything to happen to them either."

"I get that, but why would Oscar be a threat to them. They might be werewolves but it sounds to me like they're just trying to start their lives over."

"They are."

"So why all this fuss over them?"

"It's a long story."

Charlie gave a nod before he moved to grab a nearby chair. "Well, seeing as how I still have a little over 40 minutes before I have to get back to work, I've got some time."

Maggie sighed. "Okay."

* * *

Stiles was explaining to Malia everything that had been found at the station as they walked down the front courtyard of the school that was filled with dozens of other students.

"So you ran a background check and all you found was a speeding ticket?" she asked him.

"A speeding ticket signed by Theo's dad eight years ago."

"Which means what?"

Stiles then stopped to look at her. "Who speeds? People trying to get away from something," he said before she could answer.

"Well how many tickets do you have?"

"None."

"How many would you have if your dad didn't get you out of them?"

"Uh, seventeen," he grumbled.

Malia shook her head. "I don't know Stiles. I mean, I can see why you're worried. He is really hot. He's got like great hair, perfect body. You should definitely feel threatened."

He shook his head at her. "Thank you, because I do. Now, _more_ than ever."

"Are we going to torture him?"

"What, no, we're not going to go torture him."

"Really because if you don't want to then I can take him," she said not missing a beat.

"What, you think I can't?" he asked, feeling a bit defensive all of a sudden.

"I didn't say that."

He narrowed his eyes. "What are you saying?"

She narrowed her eyes back. "What are _you_ saying?"

Stiles sighed and let his head fall a bit. "Look, I have a plan. There's a way to handle this, a process. First, you need to get his story. Verify the facts. You find the piece that doesn't fit and then catch him in the act. That's how you-"

But he stopped when he noticed Theo getting out of a car that was pulled up in front of the school. Malia turned just in time to see him close the door and send a look over at his parents sitting in the front. They could see them wave back before they started taking off. Theo turned and caught sight of the two of them. He smiled and gave them a wave.

"Why are you so suspicious of this guy?" Malia asked him as she kept her eyes on him. Theo seemed like a pretty good guy to her.

She turned to look back at Stiles but he had a hard look as his eyes followed Theo as he started to walk for the front entrance.

"Because I remember Theo from fourth grade," he explained. "And that's not Theo."

Theo had been listening in on them, even through all the sea of talking people.

It seemed as if he was already starting to gain a hold on Malia. The coyote part of him was subtly beginning to influence her. He had to admit, he thought she was as hot as she seemed to find him. Perhaps the coyote in her was starting to get to him as well. He definitely wouldn't mind it, especially if it helped him get what he truly wanted in the end.

And Stiles, he was following his reputation well. Smart, instinctual, and relentless when it came to the protection and safety of his family, pack and territory. But, he would use that against him. When it came time, he would give Stiles his story and when he conducts his 'process', he would be ready for it.

* * *

Scott pushed through the doors and went into the hall where he found his classmates in high spirits. The happiness and excitement that was pouring out of them was almost intoxicating. It made Scott smile, which only grew wider when Kira came over to him.

"First day of Senior Year," she said before Scott moved to hook his arm around her.

"Last first day ever," he happily grunted out.

They then moved to head off to their first class of the year together. Right after they left, Liam and Mason were passing through where they had been standing a moment ago. Mason had a book in his hands and was trying to show it to Liam but he was trying to stay a step ahead of him.

"This is the one I was talking about. I got it from a rare book dealer in Germany. Cost me 200 bucks but it was totally worth it."

"Still reading about this stuff?" Liam couldn't believe it. Six months and Mason as tenacious as ever.

"I was attacked by an armor-plated giant wearing a bear skull. It left an impression. Look, have you ever seen anything like this?"

Mason was pointing to an artist rendering of what seemed to be a very accurate depiction of a Berserker. Too accurate for Liam's taste.

He just shook his head. "Uh, no. Never."

He tried to take off but Mason didn't let him get a foot away before he persisted.

"And then there's this whole section about the Nagual. Have you ever heard of the name Tet, Tetaca,"

"Tezcatlipoca," Liam said flawlessly. He shook his head. "No, never heard of it." He then moved to disappear into the classroom.

Mason sighed but closed the book as he moved to get to his seat while Liam got to his. Mr. Yukimura was up front and finishing the last parts of getting himself settled before he told the class to settle down and get into their seats.

Liam was about to sit down but did a double take when he saw who was sitting next to him. It was Hayden Romero. He had half forgotten that she went to this school. When he transferred to Beacon Hills he hadn't had one class with her. Now, she was in his very first one. She turned to look at him and it was plain to see that she didn't seem very happy to see him.

"Great," he mumbled, very audibly.

That just made Hayden blow a hard bubble of her gum out at him before she turned to look over at their teacher. He quickly looked for another seat but he saw that every other one was filled. The only empty seat was the one next to her. And he saw that he was the only one that was still standing, so did everyone else, including Mason.

And Mr. Yukimura. "Liam," he called out. "You're not just going to stand there, are you?"

"Maybe," he sighed.

"The whole semester," Yukimura quipped.

Liam nodded. "Maybe," he said, still standing in place.

Yukimura couldn't help but smile as he amusingly thought that maybe the kid was spending too much time with Stiles. "Liam, have a seat."

Liam then sighed as he resigned himself to this uncomfortable situation. As he sat down, he thought that it was just for the length of one class. If he could bare a whole night of the full moon, he could bare 45 minutes of sitting next to Hayden. But as he sat, he felt something weird and looked down to realize he was sitting on fresh gum. He looked up to see Hayden blowing another bubble at him, with a smirk plastered on her face. Mason noticed too and fought hard to not outright laugh then and there.

"All right, welcome to History 103," Mr. Yukimura addressed the class.

Liam huffed to himself. He'd bare the full moon any day compared to this.

* * *

In AP biology, Scott moved to sit next to Kira who smiled at him for a moment before her face fell. She then looked over at Lydia and she was looking back with a similar bewildered look. They were thinking the same thing. What was Scott doing in AP Biology? He was far from the…studious type. Kira silently asked for Lydia to ask him the question they both wanted to ask but she shook her head. Scott was her friend but was Kira's boyfriend. That left the dirty work for Kira, not her. Kira just hoped she didn't offend Scott in any way.

"Scott," she coughed out lightly. "Are you in the right class?"

"AP Biology?" he asked a little dimly.

"Uh, do you know what AP stands for?" Lydia then asked him.

"Advanced placement," he excitedly smiled at her.

He then opened his book to reveal there were colored tabs, filled sticky notes and fully highlighted sections decorating his whole textbook. That made Lydia and Kira share another look before they shrugged. They hoped Scott knew what he was getting into.

"Welcome to AP Biology," their teacher said to all of them. "Let's see who's awake? Can someone tell me what plasmids are?"

"Circular self-replicating DNA molecules often used in cloning proteins," answered Lydia.

Their teacher nodded at her. "Nicely stated Lydia. Now, can you tell me what vitamin is absorbed in the stomach via parietal cell production of a glycoprotein?"

"Uh?" Lydia was drawing a blank.

"B-12," their teacher told her. "Mr. McCall," she called to him, making him look up from his textbook. "Did you know the answer?"

"Um, no," he said, shaking his head.

"It's a common test question. What's your number one college pick?"

"Um-" he started but she cut him off.

"Stop saying um."

He quickly apologized. "Sorry. UC Davis," he said more confidently.

"Good choice. It's the best school on the West Coast for biological and physical sciences. You're in the right class if that's what you're hoping for. Who else thinks they're in the right class?" she called out to everyone else.

Scott looked back and saw that Theo was behind him and was the first one to have his hand raised. Then he, along with everyone else rose their hands.

"Good, then you should all be prepared for the test tomorrow." That made hands drop with shocked and dejected looks appearing on most of their faces. "Don't be so disappointed. This test is specifically to help you determine whether you should actually be in AP Biology. You have two weeks to drop. Tomorrow's test will just weed out the ones who shouldn't be here. And that could be any of you."

The teacher then moved to let her gaze drop down on Scott. As if one of those could likely be him. That made his heart sink.

* * *

After class, Liam waited until everyone left, save Mason, before he got out of his seat and quickly moved to yank the gum off. But there was now a very noticeable stain on his jeans and he couldn't go around wearing them for the rest of the day. He moved for the locker room and found a pair of shorts he could borrow and moved to put his dirty jeans in his locker. But, as he did, Mason went back to his arguments that something unusual was going on and Liam went back to trying to block them out.

"Look, I'm not saying I believe all of it a hundred percent but people around us seem to know things. Like Lydia, she knows things. Then there's Stiles, I tell the guy about how you disappear and think you were kidnapped, he doesn't blink. And his dad, at the rave I found him knocked out and when I wake him up, he tells me to stop some music. Not to mention, finds me and Lydia trapped and helps blow up the thing holding us there. All that doesn't seem strange to you?"

"Dude, it's the first day of school. Shouldn't you be thinking of other things like…the soccer team," he blurted when he noticed them passing down the hall.

Mason looked over at them for a moment. "What do you think I'm going to do? Follow them out to the field and watch them practice while I pretend to study?"

Liam shrugged. "It's warm out. They'll probably be shirtless," he said suggestively.

Mason looked back at them and one of the team members looked back their way and he seemed to send a smile his way. "I'll see you in Physics," he said before he moved to go on after them.

Liam let a chuckle loose but felt relief that he made Mason stop with his probing. His best friend was getting too close for comfort. If he kept this up, he just might end up learning something he didn't want him too. About the others…and himself. He moved to throw his jeans in the locker when the one next to him slammed shut to reveal Hayden.

"Nice shorts," she smirked at him.

Liam bit down his aggravation. "Thanks. You know, I was wondering if you were still pissed off about the sixth grade but I guess you cleared that up."

Hayden smiled. "I'm not pissed off Liam." She then dropped the smile. "I'm vengeful."

She then left and Liam moved his jeans up to his locker to cushion his head as he slammed it against the door. This was going to be a long first day.

But as he was stressing, Tracy Stewart moved off passed him with a troubled look on her face. She was wondering what happened to her in Ms. Martin's office earlier. The black gunk she spat out, as well as the feather she coughed up. She moved to her locker but froze when she felt something off. It seemed quiet all of a sudden and everything around her seemed to get darker. She then started to hear heavy footsteps, moving for her. The person's shadow started to overcome her and there was the thick sound of electricity crackling through air, as well as some kind of heavy breathing. It freaked her out and she moved to open her locker so she could get out of there but as soon as she did, it all seemed to stop. But it was for only a moment before the lights shut off and everything got dark and empty again. She looked over and saw black goo, bleeding out of a locker before it opened. A metal clad hand soon came out, followed by a man in a mask. He was crawling out of the locker and moving for her, slowly.

"There's nothing there," she chanted over and over to herself as it kept getting closer.

"Tracy?" she heard dimly before a different hand reached and touched her shoulder. When it did, everything seemed to return to normal and she saw that it was Lydia Martin. "Tracy, are you alright?" she asked her. Tracy didn't answer her, too freaked out by what happened. "How about we go outside?" Lydia suggested to her gently.

Tracy found herself nodding before she closed her locker to leave with her. She took a moment to realize that there were some claw marks right down the middle of the door but brushed it off as another hallucination.

* * *

Scott was sitting outside on some steps as he tried to keep his composure. His first AP class had dropped his high spirits a bit. He worked so hard and studied to be able to make the course but he wondered if it would be enough. Even Lydia had been stuck on something. He was starting to wonder if he could really do this. But his thoughts were interrupted when he heard Stiles call out for him.

"You're coming with me," Stiles told him.

"But I've got a free period."

"Yeah, so do I. And so does Theo Raeken. Let's go."

Scott could see that Stiles was eager to get the story behind what happened to Theo since he left Beacon Hills and he had to admit, so was he. They found him sitting off by himself in the quad, pouring over his textbook. He seemed to sense them because he looked up from it before they had gotten to him. He smiled at them and seemed to already know what they wanted. They decided to head for the locker room, which would be empty right about now.

"So, what do you want to know first?" he asked them.

"How about you start with how you got turned?" Stiles asked him, folding his arms.

Scott gave him a look but Theo held a hand up.

"It's okay. I don't mind." He then settled back as he began to tell his story. "I was skating in a neighbor's empty pool, trying to do a handplant. Nobody was home and I'm not that good of a skateboarder but I guess I was feeling pretty determined because I completely lost track of time. I didn't even realize that it was night until the yard lights came on. Like I said, I wasn't very good. On my last try I went down and hit hard. Really hard. I was sitting there at the bottom of the pool, and I realized something. I never heard the board come back down. I looked up and I saw it. It came at me fast and I barely turned around when he came right along and bit me. He then lifted his shirt to show his side. "Right here."

Scott looked at the spot and couldn't help but relate to what happened to Theo. The same thing happened to him. "It wasn't an accident. He wanted to turn you."

"Right, so why aren't you a part of _his_ pack then?" Stiles pressed on. "Why didn't he come back for you?" After all, that's what Alphas do.

"Because by the time of my first full moon, he was dead."

"How did you know that?"

"I met another one of his pack a couple of weeks later. He told me the Alpha that bit me was killed by two of his own Betas. They were twins."

Scott and Stiles shared a look. That had to be Aiden and Ethan. Stiles had a look of disbelief on him while Scott seemed to not know what to think or feel.

"Scott, listen to my pulse. I'm telling you the truth," Theo pleaded out to him.

"Right, or you just know how to steady your heart rate while you're lying your ass off," Stiles countered.

Scott tried to throw him a look to quietly tell him to ease up but Stiles wasn't about to back down.

"Why would I lie?" Theo asked him.

"Because you aren't who you say you are."

"Okay." He then turned to Scott. "In the fourth grade you had an inhaler. I had one to. I remember this day where I ended up in the nurse's office with an asthma attack. A bad one. I was waiting to be taken to the ER. You were waiting for the principal. You told me what would happen when you go to the ER for asthma. How they give you oxygen, an IV of Prednisone. You made it sound easy. Like everything would be okay."

Scott's expression softened a bit while Stiles rolled his eyes. But Theo kept his gaze on Scott.

"I've been by myself this whole time. Everybody knows that lone wolves, they don't make it on their own. I swear I'm that same kid from fourth grade. I was hoping you are too." He and Scott stared at each other for a moment before the bell rang, breaking their gaze. "I better get to class. You're not the only ones I need to make a good impression on."

That made Scott crack a grin but Stiles just narrowed his eyes. Theo then left with Scott and Stiles watching him with opposing expressions on their faces.

Scott was captivated by Theo's story. He was just being a normal kid when his whole world just flipped on him, without warning. Then he had to face what happened to him and deal with it all on his own. When Scott went through it, he'd had Stiles, Derek and everyone else to help him through it but Theo had no one. He didn't ask for this to happen to him anymore than Scott had asked for it. Now he was forced to have to defend himself when he came looking to have some friends and not be an Omega. He couldn't help but sympathize and feel sorry for the guy.

The same couldn't be said for Stiles. He felt that whole thing, the story of his history both with them and after was rehearsed. Almost like Theo had practiced the whole thing in front of the mirror until he had gotten it right. Bringing up a past moment between him and Scott in the fourth grade, that felt fishy. And off. Theo made it seem like he pulled it out at random but the way he explained it so perfectly, everything that happened and what was said, it was like Theo had it ready and waiting to use for this very moment. The guy had to be up to something. But as he turned to look back at Scott, his friend didn't look like he shared his cynicism.

Scott could see that Stiles was being stubborn about his mistrust. He wasn't too surprised. Stiles always seemed to be like that with everyone they met. He was that way with Kira and Liam when they first met them and now they were his friends. He hoped he would get over it and quick.

"Don't give me that look," Stiles told him.

"We have to give people the benefit of the doubt sometimes."

"Not this time. Okay, I'm right, there is something off about him. I can feel it. He is not who he says he is."

Scott shook his head. "Lydia's the psychic. Not you." He then turned to leave for his next class.

"Lydia's not a psychic. She's a banshee. Okay, there's a difference," he called out after him.

But as he was left standing there, he was resolved to not give up. Something wasn't right here and he knew. Felt it but it seemed he might be the only one that did. He would keep trying but if he couldn't convince anyone else, he might have to see to it alone. As he usually had to. He shrugged to himself as he headed out of the locker room.

As Stiles headed off to go after Scott, around the corner, Theo stepped out. He watched after them with a small smirk on his face.


	6. Parasomnia part 2

Chapter 5: Parasomnia part 2

Lydia helped Tracy over to her mother's classroom, which was thankfully empty right now. Natalie saw that Tracy was upset and asked to wait outside while she and Lydia spoke. She explained to her daughter about Tracy's latest sleeping issues and what had happened earlier that morning in her office. Natalie thought it was just simply an extreme case of parasomnia. They couldn't see that Tracy was listening in on them from just around the door.

"I know what parasomnia is, mom," Lydia told her. She'd been through too much to believe that it could be that simple. "What about the feathers?"

"People with night terrors have done far stranger things than…eating their own pillows." Lydia rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I already told her to take the rest of the day off but she didn't want to miss the first day."

"Let me try." This time, Natalie rolled her eyes. "I don't have anymore classes. I can take her home and talk to her."

"Lydia, she's having trouble sleeping. Is she needs help beyond that, we'll get her _professional_ help. Got it?"

Lydia sighed. "I couldn't agree more."

Natalie seemed confused at that but Lydia just smiled at her. She then moved to leave the room and took Tracy by her hand as they headed off for her car. As they walked, Lydia went for her phone and called for Jordan.

Jordan had been on desk duty at the station when Lydia's call to him came in. When she asked for his help in investigating what might be 'their' kind of problem, he didn't have to spar a moment to think. Sheriff Stilinski wasn't around at the moment so he dropped word that he was heading to respond to a disturbance call, which was technically true by what Lydia just told him. He met them at the address and the girl Tracy led them up to her room.

Lydia was pacing around the room, looking at the drawings plastered on the walls, while Jordan checked around the windows.

"I don't see any signs of an attempted forced entry. The latch seems okay." Jordan then looked over at the girl. "You said something about birds, Tracy?"

"The bird was at the skylight. The one that woke me up."

He looked up at the skylight. It seemed okay too but he wanted to make sure. "Can I take a look?" Tracy nodded and he moved to grab a chair and climbed up to it. As he studied it, he noticed something. "Tracy, you said the skylight was sealed for weatherproofing?"

"Yeah, why?"

Jordan then unclipped the latch and pushed on the skylight to show that it could easily open. He pushed himself up to look outside and his face fell a bit.

Below him, Lydia noticed how he just stopped moving. "Anything?" she asked.

He brought his gaze down to her and caught her eyes. They stared at each other for a moment and Lydia got her answer. Jordan then looked over towards Tracy.

"No, nothing," he said assuredly at her.

Tracy let a small sigh escape her and Jordan nodded. He then moved to close the skylight and replace the latch. He had lied of course. There was something there. A small flock of dead ravens and crows and scratches all over the skylight. It was as if something was trying to force its way in.

After they left her to try and get some rest, Lydia and Jordan stepped outside where he told her exactly what he saw from the skylight.

"So, what are we going to do?" she asked him.

"I can't do anything official right now, but I can come back after my shift tonight and watch the house for a couple of hours."

"I'll keep you company," she offered.

"Uh, I think I'll be okay."

"But this is your own time," she pointed out.

"I wouldn't do it if I didn't think something strange was going on. I also owe you."

"For what?"

"All these months of research, searching through countless bits of lore in that thumb drive and digging through university literature, trying to figure out all the strange things going on with me."

"But we never figured it out. Besides, we're still not done. We still have some of the books that Satomi lent us. We were supposed to keep looking tonight anyway. Well, we can do it here while keeping watch. I'll bring coffee."

"Don't you have school tomorrow?"

"One class."

"What? How can you only have one class?"

"I had enough credits to graduate last year. So, how do you take your coffee?"

He let a smile creep up on him. Lydia was smart and generous, yet aggressive and unyielding. He liked that about her and he found himself just giving in. "Medium Americano. Black."

She smiled back at him.

* * *

Mr. Yukimura was bumping back and forth as he was trying to coach Malia in how to control the car. He was uncomfortable while Malia was exhilarated. She had signed up for Driver's Ed class as it seemed that everyone else around her knew how to drive. Yet, it felt more complicated then she was expecting. She kept alternating between giving the car gas and hitting the brake, every other second. Mr. Yukimura tried to go with the flow, but it wasn't proving easy.

"Ease into it, Malia," he tried to tell her right before he made a sudden stop. "Easy does it."

Malia then found the course going straight for a bit and picked up some speed, but she blinked and found herself looking at the woods at night instead of the parking lot. She then heard a child like scream as the car was heading off road. Malia sped the car off and it started to plow past the pylons on the course, straight into a school bus. Malia snapped out of it just in time to notice and stomped both of her feet on the brake, making her and Mr. Yukimura's bodies thrust forward and press into their seatbelts.

"Okay," Yukimura huffed when the car came to a stop. "I think we're all good for today," he tried to say gently.

Malia nodded. "Yeah." She then put the car in park and moved to get out. "How'd I do?"

"Uh, there's room for improvement."

The two of them then looked back at the course to see that she had knocked over a half dozen pylons as well as on of the test dummies. Their eyes met again and Mr. Yukimura gave Malia an awkward smile before calling the next student up.

The students all around were looking a bit bemused at what just happened. One of them had found the whole thing a little amusing but he sensed that there was more to what happened than a loss of control. He wondered if it was the opening he needed to get to her.

* * *

The bell rang and Liam sighed out in relief as it was the last class of the day. He was thankful at least that Hayden wasn't in this class with him. He started to make his way through the crowded halls when he heard his name called out, and he turned in time to see Mason jogging for him.

"Hey, glad I found you," he breathed as he got beside him.

"Why, one the soccer players pass you a note after practice?"

"Oh, if only. But no. As they were heading for the field, one of the guys on the team fell and hurt his leg."

"He alright?"

"He had to go to the nurse but I heard one of the guys say that he just sprained it."

"Bummer man. Better luck next time."

"No, that's not what I wanted to tell you. It's how he fell. He stepped in some kind of small sink hole out in the courtyard close to the field, underneath the terrace. It looked like an impact crater. Like something small crashed right there into the pavement. Seemed fresh too. Maybe a day or two."

Liam then had a flash of memory where Stiles slammed his foot into the pavement as he threatened that werewolf who attacked Scott and Kira last night. "Oh yeah?" he mumbled.

"Yeah, and not only that. I could swear I saw some marks on the walls close by. They kind of looked like scratches. From claws."

Liam throat seized a bit and dropped his head a bit. "Claws huh," he mumbled.

Mason nodded. "Yeah. Well, I went do some digging in the local news archive. Did you know that Beacon Hills has had increase in animal attacks over in the last two years? Bodies found mauled with claw marks all over them, even around school."

"Yeah," Liam perked up a little loudly. "That's great Mason but I got to go do something real quick." Liam then picked up the pace and headed off in a different direction.

"But wait, dude," Mason called out after him but Liam just kept heading off.

Liam didn't like this. Mason seemed closer than ever before and he was still trying to pull him in, when he was already in the center of it. He wondered if Scott and the others would know what to do.

* * *

Malia walked into the library to meet with the others, a little downtrodden after her disastrous Driver's Ed class. It wasn't too crowded so she spotted them easily but saw only Scott and Kira were there waiting.

"Where's Stiles and Lydia?" she asked them.

"Lydia only had one class today," said Kira. "She left a while ago."

"And Stiles said he would be running late," Scott finished. "Needed to do more checking."

"On Theo?" asked Malia. He nodded.

Kira looked over to him. "I thought you guys spoke to him already?"

"Yeah, we did," he sighed out. "Theo told us everything, and he wasn't lying. His heart was steady the entire time, but Stiles still thinks he's not telling us truth."

"So, how was Driver's Ed?" Kira asked Malia with a smile.

Malia didn't answer. She just sat down and went to pull out her textbook.

Scott narrowed his eyes at her. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, totally fine," she nodded before opening her book.

Kira and Scott shared a look before bending their heads back down to continue studying. Both of them had their Biology textbooks out and were trying to study and prepare for the test their teacher was giving tomorrow. Scott still couldn't shake their AP Biology class that morning, how their teacher verbally drilled at him in front of everyone, and her speech to them about the test showing who didn't belong there with her casting a look his way.

As for Malia, her mind was barely on the words in her book. It was on what she saw when she had been behind the wheel. What happened to her back there? What did she see, and why did it scare her?

In the midst of it, Stiles walked into the library and headed right for them. He slammed two forms right in front of them.

"So you found something?" Scott said, half interested.

"Another signature," he told them. "This is Theo's dad's signature on a speeding ticket from eight years ago. And this is his dad's signature on a transfer form to Beacon Hills High School from just a few days ago," he explained as he pointed the marks out on each form.

"How did you get his transfer form?" Kira asked him.

Scott huffed. "Did you break into the Administration Office?"

"No, I did not break into the Administration Office." Scott, Kira and Malia looked at him disbelievingly and Stiles rolled his eyes. "Okay, I might have broken into the Administration Office. Can we just focus on the signatures, please? They're different."

Malia tilted her head a bit. "They're, sort of different."

"No, they're completely different. Look, the garlands don't even match. The undulations of the sinuous stroke are totally off. And look at this." He then ran his finger across the signature on the transfer form. "The perfect example of the Criminal Tremor." Stiles could see it. The one that signed the speeding ticket is not the same person who signed the transfer forms.

Scott closed his eyelids so he wouldn't show he was rolling his eyes, Malia just stared at him and Kira blinked as she looked at the papers.

"So, now Theo is Theo but his parents aren't his parents?" she asked him.

"Someone is not someone. And when I figure out who that someone really is, someone's in big trouble."

"But no one's done anything wrong," Scott tried to point out to him.

"Yet," Stiles pressed at him. "And if Theo's parents are both psychotic killers, then obviously, we should not trust him, right?"

"My parents are Peter and the Desert Wolf," Malia pointed out.

That made Scott and Kira give him a look and Stiles went to rub at his eyes furiously. He didn't need his senses to know that they were all full of doubt and disbelief.

"Okay…it's fine. Forget it. I'll figure it out myself. Alright." He went to gather up the papers. "I don't need you, or you, or you," he said impatiently, pointing to each one. "I don't need anyone," he huffed out before he stormed off.

This left the three of them staring off after him, awkwardly.

"What do you think he's going to do?" Kira asked as she looked over at Scott.

He let out a deep breath. "I think I have an idea."

Stiles had walked two steps passed the doors when he heard someone call out to him.

"Hey." It was Liam. "Want some help?" He had found them a while ago and had listened in on them.

Stiles let out a deep and stressed sigh. "Come on."

Mason was roaming through the halls, trying to find where his best friend ran off to in such a hurry when he noticed him on the other side of it, following after Stiles. He watched after them, curiously.

Stiles led himself and Liam out of the school and to his jeep. Stiles might've shut his car door a little harder than necessary, but he was a little too angry to care.

"Uh, do you mind if we swing by my house first? I kind of need some new pants."

Stiles looked down to see that he was wearing a pair school shorts. "I don't want to know, do I?"

Liam shook his head and Stiles nodded before he moved to start his jeep up.

* * *

Tracy was visited by her dad in her room before he headed out. He explained to her that he had to meet a client at the courthouse but would be back soon. She nodded but didn't say a word, still feeling a little freaked over everything that she'd gone through today.

Outside, Jordan was watching from his jeep at a respectful distance. He saw Tracy's father heading out and prepared himself to keep watch if anything tried to get into Tracy's room again. He then heard a beep from his phone and saw that Lydia had sent a text to him. It read that she would be there to see him at midnight. And that she would have his Americano black. He couldn't resist the deep smile as he finished reading it. He then moved to keep watch on Tracy's house.

He didn't notice that Tracy was standing in the middle of the street, behind him. She had a blank expression on her face as she stared at him. He was looking through his binoculars at her house so he didn't witness as she turned around and started to walk off like a zombie.

* * *

Theo was reaching into the back of his van and pulling out a parcel wrapped in brown paper. He gave a look around before closing the door and heading off.

"So, he is up to something," Stiles said as he watched him take off into the woods.

"We just spent 3 hours watching this guy play video games in his bedroom. He better be out here to cover up a mass murder," Liam huffed from where they were hiding in the brush.

"Let's find out. Remember, keep back and downwind. We don't want him to pick up your scent."

"Yeah, I know," mumbled Liam.

The two of them slowly followed after Liam for about fifteen minutes, without saying a word. Stiles still had Theo's scent but, even if he didn't, he was making easy enough tracks to follow. The ground was still damp and soft from the heavy rain the previous night. Liam was slagging behind, his face leaking aggravation and Stiles easily took notice.

"Just a shot in the dark here Liam, but you didn't really come with me because you wanted to spend the night helping me watch this guy."

Liam stopped in his tracks and his eyes widened at him. "What? Yeah." Stiles then stopped and turned around to give him a look of disbelief. "Okay, no," he sighed in defeat.

"So, what's up?" Stiles asked as he walked off again.

"Lots of things," Liam mumbled as he followed after him again. His mind replaying his first day back at school and Hayden. Those weren't his most pressing problem though. "But it's Mason. He's…getting closer," he hesitantly said.

"Closer? What are you talking about?"

"Today, he noticed some things in the place where that werewolf attacked Scott and Kira last night. He knows something happened."

Stiles stopped in his tracks. "Wait, you still haven't told him?"

"No, I haven't…" Liam pushed down the rush of anxiety that he was feeling and took a breath to calm himself. "I haven't told him."

"Why? We said it was okay."

"I know, it's just, it's just a lot to take in. A lot to accept," he said, trailing off.

"Liam, six months ago Mason watched as my dad and Mr. Tate attacked and blew up a Berserker with exploding knives and a landmine. I think the groundwork's been pretty thoroughly laid out for acceptance." Liam kept his gaze dropped as he nervously looked down at the ground. "Look, it's okay. If you're scared then me and Scott could help-"

Liam quickly cut him off. "I'm not scared," he said, his voice a bit higher than normal.

"You're scared," said Stiles, not missing a beat. "Scared that if you tell him, he's not going to look at you and see his friend anymore. He'll only see a monster." That made Liam look back down. "I felt that way too. Back before my dad found out and everyone was telling me I should tell him. Scott had to deal with it too. It's scary, but believe me, it's always better when they know. Besides, Mason is not an idiot. And with how he's circling around everything, he's bound to find out eventually. When he does, it should be from you."

Stiles then moved to get back on the trail and Liam shook himself out of it and frantically followed.

"Yeah, but what if he freaks out?! What if he doesn't want to talk to me?! What if he tries to stab me with something silver?! Or what if-"

But he got cut off there. Stiles quickly turned around to find that Liam was gone. He stepped back and found Liam was down in a hole.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Stiles barked at him. Liam just shrugged at him. "Seriously, do you always have to go and get stuck in a hole in the ground?"

"That was _one_ time," Liam said indignantly.

Stiles looked off to the side and could feel that Theo had stopped moving. He was close. "Stop screwing around and come on." He then took off.

Liam sighed as he looked around for his phone, which he dropped. He found it semi-buried and picked it up and began trying to wipe out the mud stuck to it. He turned it on and found that he had almost twenty messages from Mason. He then remembered that they had made plans to hang out at the school gym but he had bolted after Mason came to him with all that new research he did. He sighed before he went to activate his phone's flashlight app. When it came on, he spotted a glint and found that it was from a necklace on the ground. He wondered what it was doing there but he shook his head. Stiles was waiting for him. He went and leapt out of the hole and moved to catch up to him.

Stiles was standing behind a tree, watching as Theo came up to a wooden bridge over a river. He couldn't sense or detect anyone else around so Theo wasn't meeting up with anybody. He was just staring out over the water. Liam started stomping over for him and Stiles quickly shushed him.

"What's he doing?" Liam whispered to him.

"I don't know," Stiles whispered back. "Let's see if his scent can tell us anything."

Liam took a few sniffs of the air. "Well…he has nice soap."

Stiles' jaw hardened as he rolled his eyes. "Not _that_ scent. His chemo signature."

Theo then took out the brown parcel and started to unwrap it. Liam's eyes narrowed as it started rushing at him like an ocean wave.

"He's…sad. There's something else too. I, I think it's…"

Stiles widened his eyes. "Grief." He then saw Theo take out a flower from the parcel and throw it out into the water. He realized what was going on and turned to Liam. "We have to go. Right now."

Liam blinked as Stiles started to walk away and he followed after him. Once they were gone, Theo then turned his head in the direction that they had just been.

As they walked Liam kept pushing for Stiles to tell him what was wrong.

"Stiles…what is it? What's going on?"

Stiles sighed. "His sister. It's the bridge where they found her body in the river. She fell and died from exposure. He's leaving a flower for her."

"Uh, that doesn't sound evil Stiles."

"Yeah, I know." Stiles grit his teeth. He could already hear Scott laying it on him now. He wouldn't never hear the end of this.

They got a few more yards out before they just stopped when they saw someone standing on a low tree right in front of them. It was Theo and it looked like he had just caught them red handed, spying on him. Theo jumped down and landed in a slight crutch. Stiles was already preparing for the inevitable fallout.

Theo just smiled as he lightly stood up. "What are you guys doing?" he asked, his tone sounding curious.

Stiles narrowed his eyes. That wasn't the reaction he was expecting. Theo then started to walk towards them and his instincts flared up. The sadness and grief Theo had were gone. He was calm and blank. Something wasn't right about that and he braced himself.

Liam felt Stiles tense up beside him and the wolf in him be on guard. That seemed to make his own wolf stir and he found himself moving to stand in front of him. To defend the head Beta of his pack, his lupine superior, from what he clearly sees is a threat. He moved to glare right at Theo, stopping his advance.

"Whoa," he said as he rose his hands up in surrender. But he didn't lose the smile. "Why do I get the feeling this kid's tougher than he looks?"

Stiles moved his hand to Liam's shoulder. Liam moved to catch Stiles in the eye, subconsciously telling him to stand down. Liam and his wolf both felt the need to comply with his wish and took a step back, allowing Stiles to stand in front of him to face Theo.

"Only when we let him off the leash. Besides, its really me you should be worrying about."

"Stiles, we were in Little League together. Why are you so suspicious of me?"

Stiles rose an eyebrow at that. He felt it again. The same eerie feeling he had when Theo talked to Scott and told his story of being bitten and recalling a memory of them together earlier. The embarrassment and discomfort he had before from stumbling upon Theo's private moment vanished. He reached into his pocket. "Because of these." He pulled out the forms and handed them to him. "One's a speeding ticket signed by your dad eight years ago. The other one's a signature on a transfer form to Beacon High. They're different."

Theo looked at the signatures on the two forms. They were similar enough to fool a passing glance, but for someone paying close attention, they would raise a red flag. "Yeah, they do look a little different," he said, keeping his voice, and his heart, steady.

"No, they're totally different. They were signed by two different people."

Theo just smiled and tried to laugh it all off. "So, my dad's not my dad? Like he's an imposter, or something like that? Who do you think I am?"

"We don't know, yet," Stiles said, not missing a beat.

"Want me to give you a DNA sample or something?" Theo tried to joke.

But Stiles shook his head. "No, I don't have anything from the fourth grade to match it to," he said in a serious tone.

Theo could feel the ferocity underneath Stiles' somewhat calm composure. Sensing it, a part of Theo wanted to get as far away as he could. Stiles found an opening and he didn't waste any time using it to pounce. He couldn't help but admire that predator like instinct, but he knew he had keep his emotions pushed down and his focus on his heart steady, so Stiles didn't find another. He had readied a plan in case of something like this.

Theo nodded his head a bit before looking up at him. "You know Stiles, I came back here for Scott, but I also came back for you."

Stiles rose his eyebrows at him. "Oh, did you?"

"Yeah. Scott wasn't only one that I heard stories about. And seeing you out here, trudging through the woods at night to try and look out for your friends, I see that they're true." He then smiled. "You guys are the reason I wanted to come here so badly. I'm meant to be in this pack." Stiles just kept his eyes narrowed at him and Liam seemed to follow his example. Theo just sighed. "Anyway, it's getting late. I better go. My parents will be waiting for me, or well, whoever they are," he tossed in playfully before he started walking off.

Stiles kept his hard gaze as he watched Theo walk off. He didn't hear any changes to his heart and wasn't sensing anything off him at all, through all of that. He was definitely convinced. Something is not right with this guy.

Liam let out a sigh next to him. "So, what now?" he asked him. "Follow him and make sure he goes back home?"

"No. That's it for tonight." Besides, it would be pointless now to keep watching him. Theo knows he was followed and, if he's as guilty as Stiles thinks he is, then he won't risk doing anything for the rest of the night. "Let's head back."

"Hey," Liam said as they made the trek back to the jeep. "Do you mind dropping me off at the school? Mason's there working out and I forgot. He's left me like a dozen messages, he probably thinks I ditched him."

"Yeah okay. And Liam?" He paused a bit to let himself catch Liam's eye. "Don't worry so much about Mason. He seems like a cool guy to me. And it's me, so that should tell you something."

The two of them walked off for another twenty minutes before they made it to the jeep. But there was someone else already there, just sitting on his bike, waiting for them.

Scott couldn't help but feel disappointed that not only did he go and stalk Theo, he dragged Liam into it too. "Find anything?" he asked.

"Nope," Stiles said before pulling out his keys and heading for his car.

Liam shrugged. "I fell in a hole," he said awkwardly. No one seemed to pay attention to him.

Scott moved over to Stiles after he climbed into his driver's seat. "It was the bridge where his sister died, wasn't it?"

"Yes it was. Very embarrassing, so we're going to leave now." Stiles then moved to start his jeep up, but it didn't start. "Son of a…Liam, just do me a favor," he called out to him before he stepped out. "Just, get in the car and turn the ignition when I say."

Liam moved to follow his directions while Stiles headed to look under his hood.

"Stiles?" Scott called out to him.

"Be with you in a sec," he said, keeping his gaze on the engine as he tried to loosen and retighten the spark plug. "Try it," he called out.

Liam turned the ignition but the jeep still didn't start.

"Stiles?" Scott tried again.

"Yes," Stiles huffed out but kept his gaze away from him. "Okay, we followed him out here. What do you want me to say Scott? Huh, that I'm a stalker. That I'm crazy? Totally paranoid? None of this is exactly new information, so why are you trying to act surprised?" He went back to try fiddling with his engine.

Scott watched him calmly. "So, now can you at least _try_ to give him the benefit of the doubt?" he asked.

Stiles took a deep breath as he felt an urge come over him to just slam his fist down into the engine but he pulled it back. "I give people the benefit of the doubt. I've given a lot of benefit, to a lot of people. Especially when they didn't deserve it." He then turned away again.

Scott nodded. "Like Allison?" he said making Stiles freeze up. "Derek? Kira? Liam?"

Stiles let out a puff from his nose before looking back over at him. "Derek? Remind me again, which of us was the first one that didn't trust him and accused him of being a killer?" he asked patronizingly. Scott didn't answer. "Besides, I was right about Peter. I called it, loud and clear, but no one listened. Try it again!" he howled out to Liam.

Liam had been listening in on them. All of those names he knew, save for one. ' _Who's Allison?_ ' he thought to himself. But he jumped when Stiles yelled out to him to try the ignition. He quickly did but the jeep still didn't start.

Stiles shook his head. "You know, I bet you still think that there's something about him that can be saved."

"Maybe," Scott said simply.

"And Kate? Gerard? Them too? After everything they did?" he asked breathlessly.

Scott shrugged. "Maybe," he said again. "Allison's dad was."

Stiles grit his teeth as he angrily fiddled with another part. "Try it again!" he shouted to Liam.

He quickly tried the ignition but the jeep still wouldn't start. Stiles' aggravation grew.

Scott could sense it building in him. "Why can't you trust anyone?" he asked.

Stiles lost it. "Because you trust everyone!" He then went and slammed his fist down into the engine, hard. "Ahh!" he hissed as he had brought it down on a sharp and jagged piece and had cut it.

Scott could easily smell the blood already leaking out. "Whoa, let me see."

But Stiles pulled his hand away. "It's fine. It'll start healing in a bit."

"But I can-"

"I said I'm fine," Stiles bit out.

Stiles then moved his other hand to try to fiddle with engine while he placed his injured hand at the edge. The pain in it was running strong but Stiles pushed it off to a corner of his mind, like he was used to doing. As his cut hand laid there, Scott could see that two of the knuckles were cut open and threads of blood were running down to his wrist. Scott guessed it must really be hurting but Stiles was just feeling more angry and upset than hurt. Scott moved to grasp his hand and Scott quickly worked on pulling pain from him. Scott hissed as he felt the sting from Stiles' pain hit his nerves but didn't stop. Stiles quickly tried to pull his hand away but Scott tightened his grip, making sure he couldn't pull it away. Stiles felt some of the tension lightening off him and he flex the fingers of his hand to find it hurt less. Scott then lightly let go and took a breath as the pain he pulled ebbed away. They then stared at Stiles' hand to see the skin quickly knitting itself back up and the blood disappearing. After a few seconds, it looked like Stiles' hand never had been injured at all. They then slowly went to look each other, calmly. Before anything else could be done, the engine seemed to roar to life.

"Alright, move over Liam." Stiles then moved to close the hood before looking back at Scott. "I have to drop him off."

"Okay." Scott sighed a bit sadly.

Liam had scooched over into the passenger seat as Stiles climbed inside and Scott moved to put his helmet on. They all then rode off, and a moment after they did, a wolf started to step out from the shadows. It had been watching them, the whole time, without any of them noticing. It heard the sounds of the jeep and motorbike in the distance and it leapt off to try and catch up to one of them.

* * *

Maggie hung up her phone and let her head fall into her hands, and heaved out a sigh of frustration and stress. She had just gotten a call from Alan Deaton and he just told her that Riley Astor's talons have been found. A werewolf had them and had tried to use their power to drain away the powers of the True Alpha, Scott McCall. After ten years, the talons have surfaced again. How was it possible that a werewolf had them? Riley Astor had been killed by the Argents and had his wings and talons torn from his corpse as trophies and keepsakes. Deaton told her that he was going to try and track down Chris Argent to try and find out more.

She had to wonder if she should send word to Zeke. He had been trying to find his older brother's wings and talons for years. After all, Riley had been the only family he had left and was left alone at the age of ten. He traveled and searched through every rumored foothold and sighting of the Argents, to find them. Almost to the point of obsession. But, when word reached out that the Argent hunter family were all but destroyed, he had finally started to begin to settle down. She heard that he had just started college over two weeks ago. If she told him, then he would drop it all and fly right for Beacon Hills instantly to get his brother's talons and begin hunting for his wings. No. She couldn't do that to him. She would wait. Deaton had the talons, so she knew they were safe. Perhaps the wings will surface next and Deaton will have the McCall pack retrieve them as well.

Maggie shook her head in vain to shake the stress building in her out. And all this on top of worrying about Oscar and what he was scheming. She had told Charlie the truth, and while he promised he wouldn't say anything, he also said that he might not be spying on Oscar for her anymore either. Charlie, she felt, wouldn't do anything to endanger Derek, Cora or Jason. But, it was clear that even if he might not 'love' Oscar, he was still loyal to his Alpha and his pack.

* * *

Stiles' jeep pulled up in front of the school and Liam sighed as he didn't leave right away.

"I think that maybe you were right," he mumbled.

"Yeah of course I am," Stiles nodded. "Right about what?"

"About Mason. I should just, go and tell him everything."

"You mean, right now?" Liam didn't answer, but his face gave Stiles his answer. "Do want me to go with you?"

Liam looked over at him. "Yeah, I would, but, he's my best friend. I got to do this by myself."

Stiles nodded. "Okay."

Liam then stepped out of his jeep and closed the door behind him but turned to stick his head through the window. "Hey, for what its worth, I think there might be something off about that guy too." He then moved to head into the school.

As he watched him go off, Stiles let a small grin slide on his face. "I like that kid," he mumbled after him, before driving on off.

Mason finally got a response text from Liam and headed out to meet with him. He shrugged as he thought it was better late than never. After he saw him leave with Stiles, he decided to go and do a little more digging. He'd heard the rumors a few times about the guy. About how he had gone and helped to catch the woman who started the infamous Hale Fire and came back and killed a bunch of people almost two years ago. Well, he tried to find out more but he wasn't able to find out much. It looked like a lot had been kept out of the news and public records, probably to try and protect him because he was a minor. Something was going on, with Stiles, Lydia, and everything that happened last term, and he was starting to think that Liam might know what it was. The nervous reactions when he tries to bring this stuff up to him and sudden lame excuses making more sense now.

The school was pretty much empty now as Mason got outside into the parking lot and found Liam running over to him.

"Hey man," Liam said as he came over. "I'm sorry. I completely forgot about you wanting to work out tonight."

"Well I did. Work out. For two hours."

"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry. I had to take care of something."

"With Stiles?" he asked, making Liam's eyes widen. "I saw you leave school with him."

"Yeah I did, and I have a good reason for that."

Mason rolled his eyes. "Which let me guess, you can't tell me."

Liam quickly shook his head. "No, no that's just it. I'm going to tell you. Everything. It's just…there's a lot. And you're probably not going to believe some of it. I, just don't know where to start."

Mason's eyes widened a bit. "There's a wolf."

"Yeah, I'm going to get to that," he nodded.

But Mason shook his head. "No, there's a wolf, right behind you."

Liam's face dropped as he went to turn around, and sure enough, there really was a wolf right behind them. "That's a wolf," he squeaked out and Mason nodded.

It stared at the two of them for a moment before it let a small growl loose, showing its sharp teeth. The next moment, the two boys went and broke into a hard run. They threw themselves through the school doors and charged down the halls as the wolf pursued them. Liam and Mason kept running, not looking back, but they could easily hear the wolf growling behind them.

Liam realized that they couldn't keep running and the wolf might just catch one of them. Catch Mason. And that thought caused him to stop in his tracks.

Mason kept running though but he stopped when he realized his friend wasn't beside him anymore. He turned around to see that Liam turned around to face the wolf down, the one now running at him. He was about to cry out to him to run but he then saw Liam let out a hard roar. He had sprouted fangs, his eyes glowed golden yellow, and there were some claws at the end of his fingers, as he roared at the wolf. The animal stopped in its tracks and started to back away slowly before it went and took off. Mason let out a hard gasp, which Liam heard and quickly shifted back as he turned to fully face him.

"Uh, there's something I have to tell you," he mumbled nervously.

Mason let out another breathless gasp as his face widened. "You're a werewolf," he said in realization.

Liam saw that his friend's face break into astonishment. A small and excited grin seemed to find its way onto Mason as he looked at him that only seemed to get wider and more excited every passing moment. Liam found his own face breaking into a smile as he couldn't pick up a single whiff of fear as his best friend looked at him.

* * *

The wolf left the school grounds and escaped off into woods. It ran through the trees until it made it over to the wooden bridge. It started slow down and stopped when it got to the center. It then started to twist around until its limbs stretched out and he was back to his human form.

Theo slowly got to his feet and took a deep breath before he looked over back at the direction he came from. He then let a smile creep up on him right before he turned away. From what he saw, Liam seemed ready to follow Stiles' lead in keeping his guard up around him, especially after Stiles' little breakthrough. One suspicious mind was simple enough to work around but two would be tricky. At least now, with him forcing Liam to shift in front of his friend, the young beta had something to distract him. Liam's focus will now be more on his friend and less on him. It would relieve him of some the heat in the short run. Stiles though, he was still going to be an issue but Theo was sure that what the Doctors were setting into motion would distract him well enough.

He then ran off to go and collect his clothes where he had left them. He had to return to his house and have a little talk with those "parents" of his.

* * *

Virgil Edelman was kneeling as he laid a bouquet of multi-colored daisies on top of a grave marker in the ground that had two names pressed into it. The date of their death being identical, roughly a year and a half ago. It was quiet in the cemetery, and empty. Virgil appeared to be the only one there but visiting hours were close to being up so it wasn't that big of a surprise. He had a night where he didn't have to work late at the garage, with no pay, so he decided to use it and see his dad and grandmother.

"Hope you like them dad. I know you love em Grandma," he mumbled. "Daises were always your favorite." He then cleared his throat. "Oh, and dad, I finished fixing up that bike I found. I'm sure you would be impressed; I know I am." He then reached for his pouch and pulled out the deck of tarot cards. "And grandma, I started to carry around your deck with me. You always told me that they're the real deal, I still don't know if I believe that, but I guess they help keep me company in this town. Maybe I'll try giving readings on the side like you did. And dad, laugh it up because I know you are," he rolled his eyes at the marker but was smiling nonetheless.

After a few more minutes, Virgil got up, waved his dad and grandmother goodbye, and started to head off, out of the cemetery. He walked over to where he had parked the motorcycle he had just mentioned to his father. He could still remember the day he found it. It was a little less than a year ago. He had been over at the local junkyard, looking in the hoods of junked cars for parts to salvage when he came upon an abandoned bike. The body was banged up and deeply scratched like someone went and took a barbed bat to it. The bike he could tell was a new and expensive model. One he never would have been able to afford, beautiful but trashed and then just dumped away. Virgil wondered who it could've belonged to. He vaguely remembered seeing a pair of similar looking bikes in the parking lot at the high school but stopped seeing them around before the year was half over. The machine didn't seem like it was too far gone to work again so he took it to try and fix it. He spent his free time working on it, repairing the broken engine components, replacing the shredded body, applying a coat of midnight blue paint, and after eight months it now rode like a dream.

When Virgil reached his bike and readied his helmet, he took a moment to look back towards the cemetery. He let a deep sigh escape him before he moved to start up his bike's engine. Yet before he could actually turn the key, he froze. He narrowed his eyes as he felt something stir in his chest. The feeling made him look up at a place in the trees by the road up ahead. After a moment, someone stepped out of them. Virgil could dimly make out that it was a guy, roughly around his own age. The guy didn't seem to notice him, or if he did then he didn't care. He just started walking off down the road, likely heading into the nearby neighborhood. Something about the way he looked seemed shady.

"Coming out of the woods, alone, and walking down the dark road. Cliché much," he mumbled. He then reached down into the pouch strapped to his waist and pulled out his grandmother's tarot deck. "What's your deal?"

He kept his eyes on the guy's shrinking dark figure as he shuffled the deck. Virgil was resisting the urge to roll his eyes and he kept his gaze focused on him. If he had to guess, the kid was either trying to make himself believe he was tough by being alone at night, or was actually far from it and had a far from impressive story. Without looking down at the deck, he drew the top card. He rose it to his face and his eyes moved from the figure to see what his card was.

"Card is…Five of Swords?" he mumbled. "Upright."

As he stared at it, Virgil felt a sudden rush of fear. Like the kind one gets when they suddenly hear multiple screams of terror. You don't know why everyone's screaming but you know that you would too if you did. As he felt it, the guy seemed to stop walking and then turn to look his way. Virgil then jammed his helmet on and started his bike. He revved the bike up and rode off in the opposite direction, to get as far away from this guy as possible. As he took off down the road, his gut was telling him whoever that guy was, he wasn't as shady as he had looked, he was worse.

Theo narrowed his eyes as he saw the motorcycle took off. The high anxiety that guy had given off had drawn his attention, but the rider was already moving to leave when he did. After a moment, Theo shook it off. Whoever that guy was, he didn't look or smell familiar. Probably just some local guy. Nothing to be concerned about then. He was close to his house and he just wanted to get his last bit of business of the night done before getting some rest after a long day.

* * *

Scott made it back home where Kira, was still waiting for him.

"Everything okay?" she asked him.

"Yeah, everything's fine."

She nodded. "Stiles, he okay?"

His face fell a bit but he nodded. "Uh, yeah. He's good now. So, c'mon. We going to study?" Kira smiled as she followed after him into his room.

The plan had been to study together so they could be ready for the biology test, but they quickly ended up lightly making out on his bed. After a while, she separated from him and laid calmly at his side.

"So, how come you never told me that you wanted to go to UC Davis?" she asked as she moved to cuddle into him.

"It's a really good school. Not too far from the Bay Area."

"It also has the best program for biological and physical sciences. Perfect for someone that wants to be a veterinarian. Why didn't you tell me? Were you worried what I would think?"

Scott's face softened. "No, not at all. It's actually because…I'm worried I'm not smart enough to make it."

Kira could easily see the embarrassment in his eyes. She knew how hard he worked this summer to push his GPA to get into this course. And she remembered how he had organized and ordered his textbook with highlighters and sticky notes. He was trying so hard and guessed that his confidence wasn't too great after their first class today.

She leaned in to him. "You'll make it," she said confidently.

Scott smiled at her as he went to try and kiss her again. But she held him down and moved to straddle him and he sat up straight to be only inches from her. Kira then moved to pull her top off and she stared down at him. Scott found himself staring at her, knowing what was going to happen. He found himself feeling a little nervous. It would be his first time since…Alison. And, it would be Kira's first time too.

"Are you-" he started to ask.

But Kira moved her index finger to his lips. She was a little nervous but she did want to do this. She smiled as she nodded before moving to turn off the lamp at his bedside. But, sparks flew from her hand as she touched it and the light bulb blew. The two of them jumped before they went and burst into giggles. Their nerves were loosened and they moved to heavily kiss one another. Their lips then pulled away from each other with a hard smack.

"I want to have fun," Kira said, almost laughing.

Scott let loose a toothy smile at that before he reached down and yanked off his shirt. Kira took a moment to look at him before he pulled her to the side. He quickly laid her flat on the bed and began to hover over her. Scott looked down at Kira and he smiled down at her lovingly while she did the same back up at him. Kira moved to let her hands glide across his back while Scott rubbed his down Kira's side and across her legs. He then moved down to kiss her lips before lowering himself down to kiss her jaw, then her neck, and made it over to her shoulders. He then pulled the straps of her bra down and kissed the spot that it had been before moving down for the edge of her left breast. Kira let out a deep sigh as she closed her eyes and her body seemed to lean further into him. Scott then moved to pull her bra fully off and he moved to kiss her lips again, making her bare chest have full contact with his.

That seemed to intensify everything. Kira found herself moving her hands to his pants and she moved to unbuckle his belt and open them before she began to push them down. Scott pulled away from her lips with a gasp and he moved to finish taking them off himself, leaving himself in his boxer briefs. He moved over to the drawer at the side and pulled out a familiar foil package. He moved to open it before he took his boxers off and put it on. Kira had gone to take off her shorts and was laying back down as Scott moved over to position himself between her legs. He hovered over her but wasn't making a move to go further. He caught her eye, silently asking her if she was sure that she didn't want to stop. Kira answered by moving her hand to the back of his neck to pull him in for another kiss. Scott let his tongue dance with hers for a bit as he teased her by rubbing against her entrance. She whimpered for a bit as she felt him start to push in slightly but he kept kissing her. He slowly pushed in, little by little, until he bottomed out. He stayed still, giving her time to adjust a bit and get used to the pressure. After a moment, Kira moved her legs wrap around him and he began to move. He started slow but he soon began to pick up the pace a bit. He let himself pound away and let loose his frustrations of his worries about school and about Stiles' mistrust of Theo all out into Kira. She soon began to cry out a bit and that fed the need for him to groan with every thrust.

Thankfully, this was Scott's mom night for the late night shift at the hospital. So there was no need for them to try and be quiet.

* * *

Lydia arrived to find Jordan watching Tracy's house and she handed him his coffee.

"How's it been?" she asked as she settled next to him.

"As far as I can tell, no one's gone in and no one's come out."

Lydia sighed. It looked like there might not have been a problem after all. "Sorry. We could've used tonight to look more into Satomi's texts but instead we spent it keeping watch on a house. I wasted your time."

He smiled and shook his head. "It wasn't a total waste. We helped Tracy and made sure she was okay. I'm happy about that. And that research will still be there for us tomorrow."

Lydia stared lightly at him as he moved to take a sip of the coffee she brought him. She wouldn't deny what her mother said about Jordan. He was handsome and he didn't even really need the uniform, though she wouldn't turn away when he was in it either, but he was different from the others she had been with. Jackson and Aiden, yes, they were each handsome too. No more or less than Jordan, but they both seemed to have trouble being good and seemed to have to put effort into caring about other people. For Jordan, helping and caring about other people, it came second nature to him. He didn't even need to try. It's who he was. And it seemed to make him all the more handsome to her.

Lydia then reached into her purse and pulled out one of Satomi's books on South American Mythology. "Well, it's midnight, so it's technically tomorrow. I don't think Tracy would mind us reading while we watch her."

She and Jordan shared a small smile and she nudged over to him as she opened the book up for them both to read together.

* * *

Tracy came to and realized that she was laying on some cold hard floor. She rose her head and saw that she was in some kind of warehouse or lab. There were tanks filled with green liquid and she could see rows of sharp picks and tools scattered about. The sight of it all made her start to freak out. She tried to get to her feet but started hearing heavy footsteps, and a sound that sounded like electrical crackling. When she managed to get fully to her feet, she saw a man dressed in leather coming out from around one of the tanks. He had tubes wrapped around his body that seemed to hook up and connect with a dark metal mask on his head. The sight of him made her want to scream but it didn't seem to be able to come out. She found also found that she couldn't seem to move as he slowly stomped for her.

She started shaking her head. "There's nothing there," she said to herself. "There's nothing." The figure stopped walking until it was right in front of her. This just had to be another bad dream. But, then two other masked figures moved to stand at either side of her, trapping her between them. "Oh god," she cried. The first one then reached into his coat and produced some kind of metal instrument that had a very long needle at the end of it. Tracy now began to shed tears of fear. "It's not real," she cried. "I'm sleeping. I'm just sleeping."

"No Tracy," the first masked man told her. "You're awakening."

He then went and grabbed her hand. Tracy tried to pull away but the other two figures grabbed her and moved to push her down to the floor. She cried as she felt the needle pierce her neck and begin injecting a silver liquid into her.

As it flooded into her system, Tracy had flashes suddenly hit her. Her dreams and hallucinations at her home and the school. The banging at her skylight and the claw marks at the lockers. It wasn't something else that did those things. It was her. She had done those things, with her claws. She just blocked them out and her mind made up the other things to try and hide them from her. But she now remembered, and when the injection was finished, she was let go by the masked figures. Tracy then straightened up and let out a hard roar, as she felt herself coursing with new strength and power.

The Dread Doctors seemed pleased at the sight of their subjects fangs, claws and glowing eyes. Perhaps this subject would be the one.

* * *

Stiles was making some notes on his crime board. The two forms were already taped onto it. He had pulled the board out of his closet and had to wipe away the lingering notes left on Malia's mother, The Desert Wolf, before he started using it.

About three months ago, before summer, he and Malia had hit an impasse in their investigation. There hadn't been any more clues or things for them to go on. While Peter had told Malia that he knew where to find her, they guessed that he had only said that to try and gain Malia's trust and wasn't serious. There hadn't been anything in his things that said otherwise. After weeks of coming up with nothing, Malia gave up and told Stiles that he should to. Naturally he didn't right away, but after she left to go on vacation with her dad and hadn't gotten another lead, he decided to shelf it.

Noah popped his head in and noticed Theo's name written at the center of his son's board. "You know, we usually wait for a crime to be committed before accusing anyone of being guilty."

"He is guilty. Of something. Something bad. I can feel it," he said resolutely, as he kept his attention on the board.

"Yeah, well Stiles, facts always trumps instinct." That made Stiles look up over at his father as he leaned against the door frame. "Let it go Stiles. It's late. Get some sleep."

He moved to leave but Stiles stopped him. "Dad," he called out to him.

"Yeah?" he said coming back into the door frame.

"I just found out what was different?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Today, when I sensed something was different. I know what it is now. Your ring. You're not wearing your wedding ring anymore."

Noah looked over at his hand, where there was a mark left behind from years of wearing his ring. He hadn't taken it off and kept it on even after his wife had passed over ten years ago. He had just made the decision to take it off this morning after he realized that he couldn't keep it on if he was going out on a date later this week. He now saw that Stiles sensed that something significant had changed in him, even if he didn't know what it was at the time. All by instinct. The same instinct that was telling him that Theo wasn't what he said he was. Noah knew all too well what happened the last time he refused to take Stiles seriously on something like this.

"Are you sure about your feelings about this guy?" he calmly asked.

Stiles let loose a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah, I am," he calmly answered.

"Then just be patient. You keep going on like this and you'll run yourself into the ground before you have the chance to do anything about him."

Stiles lowered his gaze. "Satomi told me something like that too, when I told her that I was feeling like something was about to happen. Said I couldn't obsess or I'll drive myself mad."

"So, if two different, responsible and intelligent adults basically tell you the same thing, don't you think you should try listening?" Noah asked with some amusement. Stiles ducked his head a bit as a small chuckle escaped him. Noah's face then got serious again. "Still, if you're right, and this guy is not right, then just wait. He'll make a mistake. People with something to hide always do."

* * *

Theo's "parents" were sitting in front of a table with two forms laid out before them. The two of them were quiet and nervous as Theo stood off behind them, staring off into the active fireplace. They could easily tell that he was very upset with them.

And Theo wasn't. Months of planning and fine tuning his cover could've all been undone by this stupid mistake. Thankfully, Scott still was fighting against Stiles' mistrust and passing it off as paranoia and past projection like he wanted but it was still too close for comfort. Theo might be able to spin Stiles' evidence in a way to play to his advantage and would soon work on making him appear resentful and jealous in everyone else's eyes, especially Scott's. But there couldn't be any more mistakes.

"You were told to practice," he finally said to them, trying to keep his tone steady as he watched the flames. "It was supposed to be indistinguishable from the original. It was supposed to be perfect."

"I swear, I practiced," his "father" told him. "Hundreds upon hundreds of times."

"I wouldn't say hundreds," his "mother" said, giving the man a short look.

Theo then stepped over to stand right in front of them. "There is one way a false signature can be explained. It's not easy to write when you're wearing a cast." He then produced a hammer. "Is it?"

At the sight of it, the man gasped and looked over to the woman for help but she turned away. Theo had a hard look on his face and the man went to slowly bring out his right hand out onto the table. The woman cringed and tried to keep herself from looking as Theo moved to stand right over the hand and readied the hammer. The man shut his eyes and started to whimper as he tried to prepare himself for what was about to happen. Theo grunted as he rose the hammer and slammed it right down on the man's fingers.

* * *

Liam laid there on his bed in high spirits. He had started the day thinking that if Mason had learned the truth about him then he would lose his best friend. Earlier, Stiles had hit the nail on the head. He was scared that Mason would look at him and feel nothing but fear. That he wouldn't see his friend anymore, only a monster. But he didn't. Mason had seen him when he was shifted and he hadn't been scared. In fact, he thought he was awesome. Mason had wanted to know everything and Liam had promised to explain it all tomorrow when he had let it all sink in. Mason told him that he might be right, but still looked excited. Today may not have been all that good but he now had one less worry on his shoulders. He was almost too excited and happy to go to sleep. But, eventually he succumbed to it, and his eyes closed shut.

He then opened them to find himself in the forest, standing on a giant stump. The Nemeton. Liam saw there was a small fog about and it seemed to glow from the light of the moon shining overhead. He stepped off the stump and started walking a bit before he stumbled a bit. He managed to stay on his feet and looked back as it felt he had nearly tripped over something. He then took a hard step back when he saw that it was a human body. It looked mauled and shredded beyond recognition. The fog started clearing a bit and Liam saw that the ground was littered with bloody body parts, animal parts. Pieces of corpses from birds, cats, racoons, lizards, insects, and other various animals were scattered all around but the bulk of them were wolves. Liam couldn't barely stand looking at this disgusting sight.

But he then heard some kind of sound, like an electric cackling sound, and he turned to see three figures stepping out of the fog. They were dressed in some kind of suits with metallic masks over their faces. In front of them, was a wolf but it was wrong. The limbs, body, tail and head of it all had different colored furs, like it had been made by stitching together pieces from different wolves. Its fur had splatters of blood about, especially on its snout and paws. When its eyes fell on him, they glowed golden yellow. Soon, more…things appeared behind the three figure. All of them seemed to be made of mismatched parts of animals. They were all monsters…and they suddenly charged for Liam at once.

Right then in his bed, Liam's eyes popped open, and quickly sat up in terror. His eyes glowing golden yellow in the dark of his room as he panted hard due to his racing heart.

* * *

A/N: The 'episode' started with a dream, it seemed right that it ended with a dream. Ones that help give clues to try and prepare the pack for what's to come for them all. It felt right for Liam to have this one as he isn't exactly the same, thanks to Stiles' new influence on him.


	7. Scars Run Deep

Chapter 6: Scars Run Deep

Scott pulled his bike into the parking lot at the school and yanked off his helmet as he took in everything. There weren't too many other cars or people around yet as classes didn't start for over an hour. Scott wanted to head in and do some serious last minute cramming before his Biology test. He and Kira wanted to get together last night to study but they…got lost in the moment. While he didn't regret it, he couldn't help the grin that seemed stuck on his face since he woke up that morning, he knew that he was in a bit of trouble. That's why he decided to skip breakfast and get here early. He hoped that being here at school would help his mind be better focused to prepare for that exam.

Scott headed off to the school quad to find a nice quiet place to sit and study. So far, there were just a bit over a handful of people there. But Scott's eyes narrowed as he was surprised at the sight of Theo, sitting alone at one of the tables, his face hovering over an open text book.

"Theo?" he called out as he headed for him.

Theo rose his head up and gave him a small smile. "Hey Scott."

"What are you doing here?" he asked as he moved to sit down in front of him.

He lifted his biology book with a small smile. "Just some last minute cramming. To make sure I'm ready for the test."

As he put the book back down, Scott saw that the pages of Theo's book had some writing here and there, like footnotes.

"How do you think you'll do?"

Theo shrugged. "I'm pretty confident. Science and I have always had a pretty close relationship," he said, giving a chuckle at his own private joke.

"Yeah, well I wish I could say the same but I don't think science has ever liked me very much," Scott said a little amusingly.

"Oh, well would you like some help?" Theo offered.

Scott smiled. "I would," he said gratefully. He then pulled out his own textbook and Theo's eyes widened a bit at all the highlighted passages and sticky notes inside the pages of the book. "Hey," he said as he began to turn to the right page. "About last night, at the bridge,"

Theo quickly held up a hand to stop him. "Scott, it's alright. I get it. Stiles, he was just trying to look out for everybody."

"I know, it's just…sometimes Stiles can go and get a little carried away," Scott trailed off.

But Theo smiled. "Well, better carried away than not caring at all, right?"

Scott stared off for a bit before he blinked and shook his head. "Right. Well, let's get started. Biology is our first class so we don't have a lot of time left."

"Yeah, right," Theo said with a nod.

Scott looked down to skim one of his book's pages so he didn't see Theo's face harden a bit, a ghost of a smirk appearing, before he looked down at his notes. The two of them went to work exchanging notes and then lightly quizzing each other until it was time for them to get to class.

* * *

Kira was at her locker, smiling widely as she moved to get her books ready for her morning classes. Right before she finished, Lydia had calmly walked up to her.

"Hey Kira, you ready for the Biology test?" she asked her.

"Yeah," she nodded. "I think so. I hope so. I'm good."

Lydia narrowed her eyes at her. "What's going on? You seem pretty happy this morning."

"Well, it's a good morning. Clear skies, bright sun, nice gentle breeze," she said as she kept her gaze at her locker.

Now Lydia thought Kira was being a little too perky, even for her. "Kira," she said to her, making her look straight at her. When she caught Kira's eyes, her own eyes widened in realization. "Oh my god. You and Scott finally did it, didn't you?"

"Huh, did what?" she asked, trying not to sound as nervous as she suddenly felt.

"You did," she said, nearly laughing. "Wow, finally. How was it?"

Kira turned away a bit. "Good, I think."

"You think?"

"I've never…done it before," she trailed off.

Lydia understood. Kira had been a virgin. Scott was her first. "Don't worry, it gets better."

Kira froze. "Wait, so I was bad?"

"No," Lydia quickly said to her. "Why, do you think you were?" she asked delicately.

"Uh, I don't think so. Scott seemed happy…after."

Lydia rolled her eyes. "He's a guy. As long as they go off, they're always happy after."

Kira then closed her locker and the two of them headed off for the Biology classroom. Just after they took off down the hallway, Liam and Mason walked through the front doors together as they moved through the sea of people in the hallways.

As soon as Mason found Liam on the bus, he quickly started firing off a whole bunch of questions. Liam tried to answer them calmly, and quietly, all the way until they finally arrived in school. Mason seemed to having trouble really taking it all in.

"Okay, so you've been a werewolf since you got transferred here?" he asked.

"Yeah," Liam nodded.

"Because Scott bit you?"

"Yeah."

"Because he is a werewolf too?"

"Yeah."

"And so is his friend Stiles?"

"Yeah."

"And his girlfriend is a werecoyote?"

"Yeah."

"And Lydia is a banshee?"

"Yeah."

"And…what is Kira?"

"A kitsune."

"I don't even know what that is."

"Yeah, I don't think I really do either."

Mason finally stopped walking and caused Liam to stop to look back at him. Mason was staring at him, his eyes blinking fast, as if he could barely hold it all in without going berserk. "Wow," he gasped out. "This is sick."

"Yeah, it's been pretty crazy," he mumbled as he moved to rub at his eyes.

"Crazier than a seven foot giant trying to rip me to shreds in the basement before the Sheriff came and blew him up?" Mason stopped as he saw Liam move to cover up a hard yawn. "Hey Liam, are you okay?"

He shook it away. "Yeah," he said with a trace of the yawn coming out in his tone. "I just had a bit of trouble sleeping last night." Bits of the nightmare he had flashed mildly back into his mind. "But don't worry, I'll be okay."

They made their way into their history class and Liam froze as he spotted Hayden already sitting down. Again, there were only two empty seats, including the one right beside her. Suddenly, any lingering drowsiness seemed to vanish and he was hyped and alert.

Mason noticed it too. "An angry wolf you can handle, but not Hayden?" he teased before going off to take his seat.

"I'll take a Berserker any day over Hayden," Liam sighed to himself as he walked over to his seat.

He checked to make sure that the seat seemed fine and not covered with gum again. He turned to look over at her and found Hayden's face blank until he made eye contact with her. She then gave him a smug smile and he turned to look away, rolling his eyes. As Mr. Yukimura started the class, he then thought about what Mason just said. He had almost forgotten all about the incident with the wolf last night. He knew that Scott and Stiles had a free period after this one, he would go find and talk to them about it showing up. Something didn't feel right to him about it.

* * *

Melissa McCall was taking a small break when one of her fellow nurses flagged her down.

"Melissa, I need to talk to you."

"Sure Nancy, what is it?"

"Uh, there's a patient here who says that he's here for getting his cast replaced because he bumped his broken hand against something. He claims that he broke his hand over a week ago, but the abrasions seem fresh. I think he might be trying to cover up an assault."

She handed Melissa the patient's file and her eyes widened at the sight of the name. Jonathan Raeken. "Nancy, why don't you let me handle this one. I got it."

"You sure?"

She nodded. "It's okay. I know them." Melissa went into the room and found Mr. Raeken sitting in a patient's bed with his wife right beside him. There was gauze around his right hand with spots of dried blood here and there. "Jonathan Raeken?" she asked as she stepped in.

"What happened to the nurse?" Mrs. Raeken asked.

"I'm taking over. It's nice to finally meet you."

"Meet us?" she asked, a little tensed up.

"Oh, I'm Melissa McCall."

"McCall?" Mr. Raeken squeaked out. "Wait, we know that name."

"Yes honey, don't you remember, the new friend Theo told us about? Scott? This is his mother," she asked, pointedly.

His face immediately lightened up and he smiled. "Oh that's right. It's nice to meet you Melissa."

"Nice to meet you both." She then moved to peel back the gauze and her eyes narrowed as she did. "You want to tell me how this happened?"

"Oh, I slipped and bumped my hand into the corner of the counter. It reopened my cuts. I didn't even notice until Gina gave a start when she saw the gauze turning red."

"I did tell him that he should get a full cast for his hand but he was too proud and embarrassed. Injured on the first day of us moving in. How would he ever live that down to our neighbors?" Mrs. Raeken said fondly.

Melissa let out a polite laugh. "How did your injure your hand?'

"Oh, I was trying to furnish our living room and the leg of our couch went and slipped away and my hand got caught."

Melissa finished removing the gauze and came upon the cuts in his hand. She narrowed her eyes as she saw the damage. She could see why Nancy was concerned. The scarring seemed fresh and it didn't look accidental. It looked like something or someone smashed his hand. Raeken's whole body tightened as he flexed his fingers out at her touch. "Does it still hurt?" she asked in concern.

Raeken shrugged. "Just a bit," he said, trying to sound dismissive.

"His hand is going to be okay, isn't it?" asked his wife.

Melissa moved to start cleaning his hand. "I think it should be fine. He just has to be a lot more careful not to damage it more. We'll have your hand put in a strong cast and I'll prescribe you something for the pain."

He sighed in relief. "Thank you."

"So…how are you two settling back into Beacon Hills?"

Mrs. Raeken quickly jumped into what she was made to rehearse. "Oh, it's nice to be back though it's not quite what we remember. It'll take some adjusting but I think it will feel like home again."

Melissa nodded. "I know what you mean. I was relatively new to Beacon Hills around that time so I'm sorry I couldn't get the chance to know both of you or Theo before you all moved away. And I'm sorry about Tara."

There was a small pause before Mr. Raeken cleared his throat.

"Yes, our daughter," he coughed up a bit. "It still hurts to think of her sometimes."

Melissa blinked a bit but lowered her head as she tried to finish disinfecting the cuts and bruises on his hand. "I can imagine. I don't have a daughter but if I had ever lost Scott, I don't think I would ever be the same," Melissa said sympathetically. "How about Theo? Is he doing okay being back here?"

The Raekens took a moment to share a small, nervous look. Melissa noticed but averted her eyes as quickly as they turned to look back at her.

"He's…adjusting," Mrs. Raeken stiffly said. "Having made some friends so soon seems to be helping. It's not easy to when you're the new kid, even if you are coming back to what used to be home."

"And I'm sure him being "special" always makes it a little harder," Melissa suggested pointedly.

* * *

Scott was standing off to the edge of the hallway with Lydia, Kira and Theo. They were just letting themselves relax now that they've just finished taking the Biology test.

"So, how do you think you did?" Kira asked him.

Scott let a small smile loose. "Uh, okay actually. Over half the questions didn't feel too hard. You?"

She nodded. "I think I did okay too. Lydia, how about you?" she said, turning to the girl in question. She just gave her a look and Kira shook her head. "Right, what was I thinking?" she said in a laughing tone. Lydia was a genius, of course she did okay.

"I just needed to do a little revising. How about you Theo?"

"I think I might've done pretty good," he said a shrug and a smile. His gaze then went over to Scott. "Some last minute revising helped."

He smiled at him. "Well, I've got a free period so I could use a bit more help."

"Sorry, I've got to head over to Econ, so I guess I'll catch you guys later?" He then took off down the hall.

"Yeah, I have to get moving too. I have history next and since the teacher is my dad, I'll be missed. You heading out again?" she asked Lydia.

Since AP Biology was her one and only class, she was actually done for the day. But Lydia shook her head. "No, I'm going to stick around. I want to check up on Tracy."

"Cool, we can see each other at lunch."

"I'll be there," she told her.

Kira then took off and Lydia took off for towards the library. Scott decided he might go and do some reading off in the quad when he saw someone heading for him quickly at the corner of his eye.

"Stiles?" he said as his friend skidded to a stop next to him.

"Good, I thought I would have to scale half the school before I found you," he gasped out. But Stiles suddenly stopped and seemed taken aback for a second. "Something happened."

Scott tensed up. "What? Is something wrong?"

But Stiles shook his head. "No, with you."

"What are you talking about?"

"Something's changed. You look…brighter."

Scott was lost. "What? What are you-"

But he stopped as he saw Stiles looking him left to right and then saw him sniffing the air. His eyes sharpened as he seemed to catch something.

"You and Kira. You two finally did it, huh?"

Scott realized that Kira's lingering scent might still be on him from their time together the previous night. "That's creepy Stiles."

"But I am right, am I?" Stiles said, raising his eyebrows appraisingly at him.

Scott turned away but he couldn't stop a big grin from stretching onto his face. "Yeah, last night."

"Oh, well congrats dude." Stiles knew it must not be easy for Scott. After all, he's only ever been with one person before now.

"Thanks," Scott said before he shook his smile away. "But, can you not keep a look out on my scent unless it's an emergency." It was times like this where he was starting to worry more and more about Stiles' state of mind.

"Sorry, I couldn't help it. I'm sure you can't help but catch it when Malia and I, you know."

"Yeah, I try to block it out whenever I can," he said tensing up as he tried not to have any mental pictures. "So…why were you looking for me?"

Stiles blinked as he remembered why he originally came for him. "Oh, it's Liam. He sent me a message. He wants to meet with us in the parking lot, by the buses. He said it's important."

"Yeah, okay."

They then started to head off in that direction. About halfway there, Stiles broke the silence.

"Hey, your biology test, scale of one to ten, how do you think you did?"

Scott smiled. "I'd say about an eight."

"That's great. I guess you were worrying over nothing."

"How'd you know I was worrying?"

"C'mon, do you think I don't monitor your chemo signals as much as you do mine?" He gave Scott a side glance.

"I did have a little help."

"Yeah?"

He nodded as his face fell a bit. "From Theo. He helped me get some studying in before the test this morning."

Stiles' face blanked a bit. "Oh," he simply said as he just kept walking off.

Scott half expected Stiles to say something but he guessed that he might be starting to give the guy a break. After last night, maybe he was seeing that he had been overreacting and was too quick to judge Theo.

The two of them made it outside where Liam had been waiting. He quickly told them both of how he and Mason had run into a wolf in the parking lot last night after Stiles had dropped him off. They quickly asked if he was okay, looking over him in concern, and he told them that he was fine.

Stiles was crutched down a bit over the spot where Liam told him it had been. "It's faint. It didn't stick around. Probably long gone by now."

Scott caught Liam's eye. "And it just showed up?"

"Yeah, just came out of nowhere. I didn't even notice until Mason warned me."

"So much for California not having wolves anymore," Scott mumbled Stiles' way.

Liam's eyebrows rose. "Wait, it doesn't?"

"No, which is funny considering its steady population of werewolves," Stiles threw in as he ran his hands across the pavement, eyes narrowed in thought.

"Then how did it get here?" Liam asked them.

"I don't know." Scott then sighed. "What about Mason? How's he doing?"

"He's okay. Besides, he was more caught up in fact that I had to shift in order to send the wolf away."

Scott and Stiles froze up and looked at him.

"So, you really told him," Stiles mumbled. Liam had said he was going to tell him last night but he still felt a little shocked that he actually went through with it.

"Well, how's he handling it?" Scott asked him delicately.

Liam surprised him by cracking a wide smile. "Mason's great. He's actually great, with everything. All of it."

"Yeah?" Stiles asked, still crutched down next to the floor. "He didn't freak out or try to stab you with something silver?" he joked, remembering Liam's scared rant.

The young beta let a small laugh loose. "No, at least not yet," he joked back.

Stiles nodded. "Well, I'd say that's a good sign."

"That's great Liam," Scott said, placing his hand on Liam's shoulder. "I'm happy for you. Just ease him into it. Don't try to overwhelm him with everything at once."

"Overwhelm? If anything, I'm having trouble keeping up with how much Mason wants to know."

Scott could believe that. He didn't know Mason that well but from what he could see, he seemed to be excitable and curious, almost as much as Stiles. Speaking of which, he looked over to see Stiles was moving around the floor, letting his hand lightly caress across the pavement, his eyes full of focus. Scott took a moment to wonder if he should be worrying about Stiles for a whole different set of reasons. "Stiles, what are you doing?"

Stiles stopped right there. He suddenly realized that he never really did get around to explain to Scott some of the things he'd been up to in the last six months with Satomi. He hadn't told anyone actually. But Liam knew what Stiles was up to.

"You can't pick up anything?" asked Liam. "Mason and I were scared, so there should be an event scar for you to tap."

Stiles got up and looked straight at Liam. "Wait, how do you know event scars?"

He shrugged uncomfortably. "I kind of overheard you and Satomi talking about them a few times when we were over at her place."

"Hold on, what are you guys talking about?" Scott asked as he looked between them. "What are you trying to do? What's an event scar?"

Stiles cleared his throat. "Scott, do you remember those times where after I touched something I went and saw things that I shouldn't have been able to?"

Scott thought back. "You mean like with the door at the Hale House and with the twins?" After he had done that, Stiles had seen the Alpha Pack leaving their mark and the twins killing their pack.

He nodded. "Yeah, well I told Satomi about them and she said that it's a rare ability that a couple of werewolves have. When something happens that made or left strong emotions behind, the event leaves an impression, a scar. I can then tap into them and see what happened to leave it. I was checking to see if what happened to Liam and Mason left one."

Scott's eyes widened. "Are you serious? So wait, you can just see what happened anywhere or with anyone just by touching them?" That sounded like it would be a pretty handy thing to have around.

Stiles shook his head. "No, there has to be emotions behind them. Powerful ones. Those times with the door and the twins, I saw them because they were full of hate, rage and bloodlust as those things happened. I can see what happened to make and leave those emotions behind. It's a lot like how we can read into chemo signals that are left behind, but stronger."

"And you're trying to learn from Satomi? She can do that too?"

"Oh, no, she can't but she did know a werewolf that was able to do it. So, she's been trying to help me get a handle on it these last few months but, it hasn't been easy."

"Really?" Scott was surprised. Before, when it came to werewolf stuff, Stiles had gotten things down pretty quickly.

Stiles shrugged. "Yeah, the hard part is trying to find enough to practice on. Satomi suggested places where many adrenaline high things happen. So, two months ago I decided to try looking in the Sheriff's Station. You know, because a lot of fear, hate and anger is felt around there constantly. I caught some flashes of things here and there that were left by some of the deputies, visitors and people who get arrested, especially around the holding cells. Even saw memories of…that night, back in sophomore year," he trailed off.

Scott's face softened. He knew which night Stiles was talking about. Matt's attack at the station with the Kanima. That was definitely a night that had a lot of fear, anger and anxiety coupled into it from them, their parents and Matt. Enough to leave scars for him to tap into.

Liam then jumped in. "But Mason and I were scared when that wolf appeared. Why can't you see it?"

Stiles had almost forgotten Liam was there. "Well, maybe you two didn't feel enough fear to make a scar."

Liam didn't know if he should be feeling relieved or insulted by the fact that they basically weren't scared enough last night to make an impression.

"So, what are we going to do about the wolf?" Liam then asked.

"Well, I could talk to Deaton about it when I get to work. See what he thinks," Scott answered. "It's probably nothing."

Stiles sighed deeply. "When is it ever nothing, Scott?" he asked him rhetorically.

* * *

Christopher Argent was sitting on an examination bed in a doctor's office, waiting for his test results. He had gotten an X-ray and given a sample of his blood and damaged tissue and now was waiting for the official news. He was still having a bit of trouble grasping the fact that he even could go to a doctor now. Until recently, he was a wanted man in the FBI's database due to him being framed for murder by the Nogitsune when it possessed Stiles last year. But he was granted immunity thanks to Scott's father, Agent Raphael McCall when he helped to bring in the Calaveras six months ago, as well as provide evidence against a handful of other rogue hunters since, like his old friend Richard Baxter who had been caught during the Deadpool incident.

He ran his left middle and forefingers across the deep claw marks that were scarred across the top part of his right arm. He clenched his teeth if he pressed too hard on them. The pain in his arm had started up a few days before Allison had been killed. Mild at first, only when he overexerted his arm for too long but it had been slowly growing worse. Now, if there was more than simple pressure, he would feel some pain. At his wince, the door opened and the doctor finally came back into the room in time to see it.

"Mr. Argent," he said in concern as he closed the door behind him. "You okay?"

"Yes doctor," Chris politely said back, as he pulled his sleeve down. "Just a mild itch. So how is it looking?"

The man sighed as he brought up the clipboard with the notes. "Well, I still have some more questions to ask you before I give you the final results."

"Okay," he nodded.

"Now, you said that you had been attacked by a wolf and it managed to maul at your arm?"

Chris nodded. "That's right," he said unflinchingly. A memory of Stiles digging his claws into his arm and then throwing him off replayed in his mind. "Over a year ago."

"By any chance, do you know if this wolf might have been rabid?" asked the doctor.

"I couldn't say," Chris answered evenly. "Why?"

"Well, there are trace amounts of organic toxins in your arm's muscle tissue. One of them seems to be…aconite."

' _Wolfsbane_ ,' Chris thought to himself.

The doctor continued. "It's as if the wolf's claws had been laced in it. Not too uncommon with animals suffering diseases or poison to have it in their claws or teeth."

Chris guessed it was from when Gerard had poisoned Stiles with that wolfsbane cocktail of his to diminish a werewolf's strength and powers. Stiles' body must've burned and pushed out the toxin from his pores and claws in an effort to heal himself that night, which would explain how he ended up with it after Stiles attacked him.

"I see," he managed to say.

"That explains why the pain is escalating. The toxin embedded in your muscle tissue has been slowly spreading and eroding the surrounding tissue and has started killing some of the damaged tissue."

"It can't heal?"

"Well, it could, if it was given time to. The strain and stress you've been putting on your arm hasn't been helping. In fact, it's been helping to accelerate the extent of the damage far more than a year should've progressed. May I ask what exactly is it you do?"

"Security," he simply answered like he had been trained to since he was a teen.

"Well, I think you should seriously consider a career change. One that isn't so physical."

Chris' jaw tightened. He didn't believe that would be an option. "Is it possible for me to have some surgery done on my arm to remove the toxin and repair my arm?"

The doctor sighed. "I'm afraid I can't recommend that. It's not just your arm though. Your bloodwork came back and I need you to be honest with me Mr. Argent. What have you been taking?"

"Taking?"

"Yes, what drugs have you been taking Mr. Argent? There is a substantial trace amount of narcotics in your blood. Some oxycontin mixed with a few other substances made for relieving pain. From the quantity found, I'd say you'd been regularly taking it for a few months now."

Chris averted his eyes. Six months ago, Peter Hale had found out his little secret when he tasted some of his blood. The injury of his arm had started to make it too painful to fight or even fire a gun without his focus becoming divided between his targets and himself and during his missions, he needed his focus undivided or it would prove fatal.

"It's nothing major," he simply said.

"I'm afraid it is Mr. Argent. Addiction is always a major thing."

"I'm not an addict," he stressfully spat out.

The doctor just stared at him. He had heard that before, many times. "Mr. Argent, I need you to understand what is really going on. Whatever it is you're taking, not only is it affecting your arm, I have reason to believe it's starting to seriously affect your overall health as well."

* * *

Malia was flipping through a textbook in her Economics class, with a red highlighter firmly between her lips. She took it out to highlight a complicated looking term when she felt someone sit in the seat beside her. She looked over to see that it was Theo, and he smiled at her.

"Hey," he said lightly to her as soon as her eyes met his.

Malia quickly looked back at her book. "You changed your seat," she mumbled.

"Yeah well, seeing as how you're the only member of the pack here it would make sense for us to be together, wouldn't it?" he finished with a smile creeping up on him.

Malia let her eyes follow that smile and couldn't help but feel that it was a bit predatory. She found her stomach twisting a bit at the thought as her insides seemed to heat up somewhat. She moved her gaze up to catch him in his eyes and they seemed to focus right back at hers. She raised her eyebrows up at him before she shrugged. "Fine. Do whatever you want, I don't care," she said airily before turning back to her book. She could feel his eyes still on her and she focused on keeping hers on the book and away from him.

As Malia went back to finish highlighting the passage she was working on, Theo continued to watch her. He could sense that Malia didn't seem to really be concentrating in reading as she was pretending to be. It seemed like she was trying very hard not to look at him. Animalistic pride welled up in him as he turned away to give her a small reprieve.

Theo turn his head around and gazed upon Tracy, who was sitting at the back of the room, by the door. She was staring straight ahead, with a somewhat tense stance. It looked like she was struggling to stay awake. It seemed as if the mental side effects of the transformation from the Doctors' treatment. Her mind was in a malleable state right now. And that was giving him an idea that wouldn't just help push his way into Scott and the others' confidence; but help push Stiles out of theirs.

* * *

Cora was in the cafeteria, nibbling on her lunch as she was reading a novel for her American Literature class. As she finished a chapter, she dropped it to let her eyes go over the room where there were at least a hundred other kids there, talking with each other or each doing their own private thing as they enjoyed their lunch period. Cora still wasn't used to having an education in this kind of setting. After the fire, when she escaped to South America, she would study independently or have private tutoring from pack emissaries. After Derek had left her with Maggie, she learned under her but she kept insisting that she go and enroll herself in the local high school. When her pregnancy began to progress, she dropped it but after Jason's birth, she brought the issue up again. It might not have worked any better than before but then Derek moved and took her side in the argument and she found herself caving in.

She would admit, high school wasn't as bad as she pictured it. Classes weren't unpleasant and the course work was interesting enough. It was her classmates though. She didn't know any of the other kids here and they didn't know her. On some points, that was a good thing. No one would hear her name and automatically connect her to the fire and all the other stuff that happened that was connected to the Hale name. She wouldn't have to bare putting up judgmental looks and blocking out conversations about her behind her back.

Her train of thought was interrupted when someone suddenly just sat down in front of her.

"Jane Eyre," he read off the front cover. "Is that your pick for our presentation assignment?"

Cora raised her eyebrows at him. "Really? That's what you're going to start off with?"

The guy shrugged. "Seemed like it was a good way to start, at least in my head it was," he tried to jest.

Even though he was sure to see it, Cora didn't hesitate to make the need to roll her eyes obvious. "I've seen you around. You're in my lit class, aren't you?"

She gave him a once over and thought that he did seem cute, in an awkward sort of way. He had black eyes and the hair to match that was complimented by his fair complexion. His hair was slightly messy, like the way it is when you run your hand through it a couple of times. He was somewhat tall and it looked like he was fairly fit.

He smiled at her. "That's right. You're the new girl. It's Cora, right?"

She nodded. "That's right. And I'm sorry, but I'm drawing a blank on your name."

He smiled at her. "It's okay. I'm Ruben. You just moved here, right?"

"A couple of months ago," she answered.

"I know. I kind of seen you around the community center pool a few times over the summer. You love the water?"

It went like this for a few minutes. Ruben seemed to keep trying to trade small talk with Cora, about things that didn't matter or have any interest to her. She was finding that this was the flipside to going to school in a place like this. Everyone else would assume that she was like other high school girls. That she was interested in pop idols, social orders and other stupid teenage stuff. A part of her wished she was, as it would probably make this whole thing so much easier. And she couldn't help but wonder that if she had stayed in Beacon Hills with the Stiles, Scott and the others, would she have learned to?

After Ruben brought up a party that was going on that weekend, he asked if she would be there. Cora told him that she would think about it so this could be over. Ruben seemed hopeful as he heard her answer, and she could feel the interest that he seemed to have in her as he went off to sit with a few other guys. She then sighed as she went back to her book.

* * *

Jordan was sitting in his van, parked off in a street corner as he patrolled an area of downtown Beacon Hills. There had been some sounds of shooting around this area earlier that week. It turned out that it had been Donovan Donati who did that as he was breaking into a pharmacy but luckily Deputy Clark had managed to catch him without anyone getting hurt. The Sheriff wanted him there to make sure there wasn't any more trouble lingering around there. Jordan didn't mind having patrol duty; at least it wasn't directing traffic or organizing the files down at the station. His eyes fell upon the nearby bar and he saw someone heading for it. Someone that might not belong in a place like that.

Virgil was pissed. Before he left work at the garage today, his boss told him that he would need to cover some of the late shift all next week. Naturally, he pointed out to his boss that he said he wouldn't ask him to do that anymore but the man reminded him that he only said that he wouldn't ask him to do that for no pay. For a wild second, Virgil actually thought that meant that he would be paid overtime for the extra hours. And he was, but he also told him that, unfortunately, his normal pay had to be cut a bit. This meant that the extra hours barely did anything, and he would no doubt have to work a few extra hours regularly to make up the difference. His boss apologized and said it couldn't be helped but Virgil talked to one of the other mechanics at the garage and learned that the others weren't having their hours cut at all. Virgil thought it was official, his boss was out to get him. When he got home, he felt he needed something good and hard to dull this day away so he decided to walk down to the local bar.

He was just about to reach for the door but he was flagged down by a deputy.

"Hey there," he said stopping him. "You mind if I talk to you for a second?"

Virgil sighed and he headed over for the deputy. "Is there a problem officer?" he sighed out.

"I hope not. But, you seem a little young to be going to a bar. Mind if I see your ID?"

Virgil seemed taken aback. "Really?"

"Yeah. Why, is there a problem?" Jordan asked, readying himself a bit.

But Virgil just blinked at him. "Uh, no." He then reached into his pocket and handed him to him. After he did, his eyes fell on the name PARRISH written on the name plate pinned to the uniform. "Parrish? You're new to town, aren't you?"

Jordan nodded. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. I transferred here almost a year ago."

"That's explains it. Most of the deputies around here pretty much know me."

"Well, Virgil," Jordan said reading the name off his license before giving it back to him. "If you regularly try to sneak into bars because you're a minor then I don't doubt that."

"I'm old enough," Virgil said indignantly. "I turn 21 in six months."

"Which makes you 20 so you're still underage," Jordan pointed out.

Virgil ran his hand furiously over his face. "Look, can't I just a pass? All I want one crappy drink after a really crappy day."

"Well, it's been my experience that people who want to dull and forget what they're dealing with usually need more than _one_ drink. And yeah, you'll feel fine _now,_ but it usually doesn't do anyone any good in the long run."

"Honestly, I'm good with feeling fine now."

Jordan let a small chuckle loose but still shook his head. "Sorry there Virge but-"

"Virgil," he quickly cut in. "Sorry, but I don't like anyone calling me Virge," he quickly explained when the deputy rose his eyebrows at his quick outburst.

"Right, well Virgil, you're just going to have to wait. If you really want to go to into that bar, then I can't stop you. Six months from now. But, right now I still can but I'm hoping that I won't have to."

Virgil sighed as he looked the deputy up and down. His tone was gentle and kind but he could feel that the guy was serious with his last comment. He didn't want more problems to add on so he took a step back. "Alright," he sighed. "You win."

Virgil started to walk away, heading back for his apartment.

"Hey Virgil," Jordan called out to him, making him stop to turn back to him. "In the meantime, try coffee. A black Medium Americano always seems to brighten up my day."

Virgil stared at him for a moment before a hint of a smile crept on him a bit. "Maybe I'll give it a shot," he said to him before walking off.

* * *

"And Liam and his friend are okay?" asked Deaton.

Scott nodded. "Yeah, Liam managed to scare it off so no one was hurt."

"That's good."

Scott was off to the side of the animal clinic's examination room as his boss Deaton was listening as he was preparing medicinal shot for one of the animals.

"I thought California wasn't supposed to have wolves." When this all started, it was one of the first things that Scott had learned.

"It used to, but urbanization and seismic activity pushed them to migrate to the east. The farthest western point in the country you normally find wolves like this are Yellowstone and sometimes Idaho. It's a little unheard for one to be spotted this far west, though it might possible that it might have wandered here or pushed out of its home."

"So, there might not be a connection to that werewolf that attacked me with the talons?"

"As to that, I can't say for sure. That being said, I will say this is strange. These kind of wolves are skittish and generally try avoid people by staying in the forest. Unless it was rabid, I can't think of any other kind of reason for this to have even happened."

"Maybe it was sick?"

But Deaton nodded. "If it was then there would've been a trace of it for you or Stiles to easily pick up on."

Scott couldn't help but think that Deaton was thinking that the attack on Liam and Mason might have been deliberate. "So, what do we do?"

"For now, I think the only thing you can do is just be careful and for you and your friends to look out for one another." Scott nodded though Deaton could see that something was still on his mind. "Scott, is there something else?"

"Uh, well, I was wondering if you knew anything about event scars?"

"You mean, like what Stiles sometimes gets?"

Scott's eyes widened. "How did-"

He smiled at the young Alpha. "I've known about them for a while, and I know that Satomi has been trying to help him get control of them. She and I had started keeping tabs on one another after what happened six months ago," he explained.

"Stiles tried telling me what it is but, I don't think I quite get it."

"Basically, it's reading and putting together events that took shape in a certain place by what emotions had been made and left behind. I think Stiles' natural observant and puzzle solving mind made him more open and receptive to this ability. Since detectives often need a mind like that to put together and work a crime scene. Tapping into event scars is one of the more rare, as well as difficult, abilities for a werewolf to tap into. I've heard stories but personally only ever come across one werewolf that had successfully mastered it."

Scott narrowed his eyes. Stiles said that Satomi had told him the same thing. He wondered if Deaton and Satomi were talking about the same one. "Who was it?"

The smile on Deaton's face fell a bit and his expression became blank though there was a hint of sadness in his eyes. "A man by the name of Jason Conley. He was Talia's lover."

Now Scott's eyes nearly popped out. "You mean, Derek's father?"

Deaton nodded. "Yes. Jason had been quite a strong and gifted Alpha. Like Talia, he also had the power to shapeshift into a wolf. An ability that both Laura and Derek seemed to have inherited from them. Tapping into event scars was just one of Jason's own separate talents. He had tried to teach Talia how to do it when they were together. She showed promise but thought it was too frustrating for her so she abandoned it. Satomi and even Deucalion once asked Jason for help teaching them but they didn't seem to have the skill and mindset for it. Satomi does remember some of the tips and lessons Jason gave her so she's trying to help Stiles as it looks like he might have a real chance of harnessing and bringing it under control."

Scott had no idea. Not once, in the two years he'd known him, had Derek ever once mentioned his father. But he noticed something. "Wait, you said he was Talia's lover. Don't you mean her husband?"

"No. Though they did have Laura, Derek and Cora together, Talia and Jason weren't married."

"Why not?"

"They were in a complicated position. Jason had come to Beacon Hills a little less than 30 years ago tracking an Omega that killed one of his betas. That's how he and Talia met and they ended up falling in love. But he was an Alpha of a pack over in Virginia and she was getting ready to take over as the Alpha in charge of Beacon Hills. They had responsibilities to their packs so the two of them knew they couldn't stay together. Though, before he left, he ended up fathering Laura with Talia. He would make occasional visits to see Talia and their child over the years, two of which ended up with Derek and Cora coming along," he zoned out.

Scott was thrown. He had always just assumed that Derek's father was one of the people who had been killed in the Hale Fire. But, he wasn't even living here. In two minutes, he learned more about this man than he did in the last two years. He was curious to know more.

"What happened to him?"

Deaton didn't answer right away. His gaze fell a bit as the memory of Talia during that time, hit him. "When Derek was almost 12, Jason and most of his pack were killed."

"Was it hunters?" he quickly guessed.

But Deaton shook his head. "No, they had been killed by a rival group of shapeshifters. Since it happened at the other end of the country, Talia was never able to find out who had done it. She never really got over it."

Scott could hear the pain in Deaton's voice. He was starting to regret bringing the topic up. Still, he now understood what Stiles was talking about with Event Scars now. He just hoped that his friend's story ended up being better than the last one that could use this rare werewolf ability.

* * *

Tracy was strapped to a chair in the Doctors' lab though she wasn't struggling. Her face was loosely shifting back and forth with fangs and claws extending and retracting at her fingertips every other minute or so. She seemed to be getting used to the sensation of the transformation. Off to the side, Theo was standing there, his hands were holding Tracy's records.

"Wow Tracy," he said softly as he shuffled through them. "It looks like you've been suffering from insomnia for a while now. Since your mom left right before you started high school. Then when it all started, right? Depression, night terrors and even panic attacks. But, your dad went and quickly got you into therapy and the best prescribed anti depressant drugs he could, all to help you. What a caring guy. Sure sounds like he loves you." Theo then moved to hover over her. "Just as long as you keep what was happening to you private, right?"

Tracy's eyes widened a bit at that. Theo kept going.

"I mean, your dad was a rising defense lawyer so that made him a strong public figure in town. He was under a lot of pressure especially going up against Mr. Whittemore quite a few times before he left town. Now he's number one in Beacon Hills and he can't risk anything ruining his reputation, especially you. What would people think of him if he has a daughter with mental problems? That's why he always asked you not to tell anybody at school what you were going through outside your guidance counselors and why you couldn't have any body come over and risk seeing all the medication you had. He even weather proofed your room, right? To make sure your screams didn't get heard by the neighbors. Can't risk anyone finding out about his freak of a daughter."

Tracy had her claws out again and she clenched her fingers to dig into the arm of the chair, scratching right into it. Theo then dropped his tone and started to speak a bit more…seductively.

"Maybe that's why your mom left? Maybe she just wasn't worthy enough to be a high class lawyer's wife like he felt he needed and that's why she had to leave your family. Leave you. Because of him."

A loud spark off to the side made Theo look over to two more chairs at the side where two others were strapped to them like Tracy. They had needles and tubes full of DNA and mercury running into them but were both unconscious. The Surgeon was observing the two of them before he nodded over to the Pathologist and the Geneticist. The two of them slowly stomped over and started to remove the instruments from them before picking their slagging bodies up and started to carry them away. No doubt to bury them for the second phase of the transformation process.

The Surgeon followed their movements before turning to look back at Theo. "Her condition shows promise."

A smirk crept onto Theo's face. "I'm counting on that. I just need to borrow her for a bit."

The Surgeon's breathing seemed to quicken a bit. "Do not interfere with her condition," he warned him with his deep, distorted voice.

"I'm not. I'm just treating her mental condition a bit," he defended. The girl had emotional scars. Scars that he could manipulate and use to his advantage. "She could really help with my plan for Scott and his pack." And maybe he could find ways to use their two newest creations too.

"There is only one plan." The Surgeon then moved to walk off after his two colleagues.

Theo glared after him for a moment before turning back to Tracy.

"Now, where was I?"

* * *

Stiles was driving Malia home after school in his jeep. Her nose crinkled as a funny smell started to seep into the car.

"Stiles, do you smell something?"

He sighed deeply. "Yeah, it's coming from the engine." The heat was starting to burn through the layers of tape he had in there.

"Well, it smells really bad."

"Yeah…I know."

"Maybe you should take it to someone. Get it looked at," she suggested.

"No, that's okay. I…I can handle it," he mumbled. Roscoe was his baby and he was to be the one to take care of it. And, he would. Besides, he remembered what happened the last time he tried to take it to someone. Stiles wanted to change the subject. "So, I thought we were going to my house to study. Why did you want to come back home first?"

"My dad sent a text to me. Said he had a surprise for me and that I should come home right after school."

"Any idea what it is?"

She shook her head. "No clue."

Soon enough, Stiles was pulling up next to the Tate's house. As soon as he stopped, Stiles' nose crinkled as he detected a frightening scent.

"Blood," he mumbled. Malia smelled it too and she quickly threw herself out of the car. Stiles was a second behind her. "Malia, wait," he called as she rushed to the front door.

But Malia didn't slow down until after she threw herself passed her unlocked front door. She froze when she found a familiar scent drifting though the house, mixed with the blood. Together, it was a scent that she hadn't come across in almost a year. Stiles had called for her again as he made it to the door but she surprised him when she turned around to look at him, with a smile on her face.

"Dad?" she called out.

"In the kitchen," they heard Henry Tate call back.

They headed for the kitchen and found him hard at work cooking. Stiles saw splashes of blood in the sink. From the smell, he guessed that there was a lot, but as he was calmly sifting through it, he realized that it wasn't from Mr. Tate, or anybody. It wasn't human, it was animal blood. After all this time, he knew what human blood smelled like. He followed where the scent was strongest and saw some bloody entrails peeking out from a semi-open garbage bag.

"Wait," Stiles said, narrowing his eyes. "Is that-"

Henry nodded. "Yep," he said before smiling over at his daughter. "It's deer meat."

Malia looked over and saw some fillets of meat on a cutting board. At the sight of it, her stomach actually growled. "How did you get it?" she asked.

"It wandered onto our property late this morning. I was going to chase it off but…I remembered how you said deer was your favorite so I decided to give it a shot, so I brought down."

Malia immediately went over and gave her dad a hard hug. He let out a small laugh before he moved to return it. Stiles watched them with a calm smile coming over him. He knew that Malia was getting better and more adjusted as time went on, but she couldn't discard all the years she spent living as a coyote in the woods. Her dad seemed to know that and was trying to show support for her feelings.

Malia looked at the pot to see some slabs of it already seasoned and simmering. "You know, I never had it cooked before," she mused.

Stiles shrugged. "Yeah, I'm not really surprised. Don't think too many coyotes carry around ovens when they hunt."

Malia let a small chuckle as she turned back to look at his joking face. As she looked into his eyes, Malia felt herself feeling warm inside. Her insides were turning, kind of like back at school with Theo, only they were tugging at her chest rather than her stomach. The feeling made her smile at him.

Henry moved over to the fridge and opened the freezer door to show that there were some bags filled with some more deer meat. "Well, I have some more saved for you if you ever want to have it the way you like. But today, let's try it this way, okay?"

"Okay?" Malia nodded.

"Stiles, would you like to stay for dinner?" the man asked his daughter's boyfriend.

"Uh, yeah I'd love to. Let me just call my dad and let him know."

* * *

"You're sure that Oscar doesn't know?" asked Derek.

"Know? I'd say not. Suspect? I'd say he does," said Maggie as she rocked baby Jason in her arms.

Derek started pacing. "But if he is really watching us, he might know you're here, right now."

"Maybe, but what can he do? He knows that I'm close with you and Cora."

"Yeah, which means he can already guess you're trying to warn us about him. I know how Oscar deals with people that get in his way and give him trouble. Maybe you should stay away for a bit. It might be safer that way."

But Maggie shook her head. "If I'm suddenly avoiding you two, especially after we've been spending more time together after Jason, don't you think that would only help tip Oscar off that he's on the right track? Besides, I'm still the apprentice to the emissary of his pack. He won't risk doing anything that would cost him the access he thinks I can give him if I seem loyal."

"Which he might know you fully aren't if that new bitten blabs to him. I can't believe you told him about Jason's father."

"Relax, Charlie won't say anything. He's a good, decent guy and he won't do anything to endanger an innocent child. I'm pretty sure he's someone I can trust."

"Oh, that's comforting," he snorted.

"Derek," she said pointedly.

He stopped pacing and looked straight at her. Then he just sighed and threw himself to sit next to her. "I just don't want anything to happen to you," he said softly. They stared lightly at each other for a few moments before his eyes flew off for the door. "Cora's coming."

Cora took out her keys and opened the door to the apartment to find a pleasant surprise. She found Maggie sitting on the sofa, with Jason in her arms laughing, as Derek sat next to her. From the lingering emotions, it seemed like they had just been in the middle of an intense conversation but it stopped as they both looked up to see Cora making it home.

"Maggie, I wasn't expecting to see you here," she said as she stepped in and closed the door behind her.

"Oh, I decided to come for a visit. And I always like seeing this cutie here," she said gesturing her baby who let out a small giggle at the squeeze.

Cora moved to set her bag to the side and went to the fridge to grab a bottle of water.

"How was school?" her brother asked.

"Same old, same old," she said before taking a sip of her water.

"Did anything happen today?" asked Maggie.

Memories of Ruben and his invite rang in her head. She turned around to see Derek looking right at her and she shrugged her shoulders. "Not really."

Maggie rose her eye at Cora before getting up from the couch. "Hey Derek, I'm going to put Jason to bed now. Cora, why don't you come with me?" she asked as she started heading upstairs to the nursery.

"Sure," she mumbled as she followed after her.

When they made it to the room, Maggie moved to put Jason in his crib before flipping on his baby radio to play and fill the room with light jingle music, to give them privacy from a certain burly werewolf's super hearing.

"Alright," she said lightly. "What really happened in school today?"

"What? Why do you think something happened?"

Maggie rolled her eyes. "Please, I saw the hesitation when you answered him and the attempt to casually brush it off. I used to do the same thing too. So, out with it."

Cora breathed heavily out of her nose but let an amused grin loose as the reason for bringing her here and playing the music came to light. "A boy talked to me today."

"A boy?"

She nodded. "From one of my classes. Gave me a lame attempt at flirting before he invited me to a party this weekend."

Maggie looked her up and down. "Really? You going to go?"

"I don't know. I mean, I have homework, and Jason." She looked down at him as he moved to start biting into the ear of one of his stuffed toys.

"I can come over and watch Jason and you could always take care of homework before and after the party. Sounds to me, you were hoping to use them as excuses."

"Excuses? For what?"

"For not being a teenager. Cora, the whole reason why Derek moved you here was so that you could settle down and start to live your life with some stability."

"I know," she sighed heavily. "But, I don't if that's what I want. This whole, going to high school and dating, party going thing."

"I can understand that. But, how could you know if that's not what you want, unless you give it a chance?" She then tilted her head a bit. "Unless that's not really it either?"

Cora rolled her eyes. "How do you emissaries always read us so well?"

Maggie smiled. "It's our gift. Is it the boy? The one who asked you oh so lamely?"

"Ruben…as he was talking, I couldn't help but think of-"

"Stiles?" Maggie guessed.

She sighed. "He's the one guy I've ever really connected with and I couldn't help but compare Ruben to him. I can't help but feel annoyed that anyone else I come across, I'm always going to compare them to him."

Maggie dropped her head. "I know what you mean, believe me," she said, her mind going to the guy down the stairs.

"Oh, I do," Cora said, this time reading her just as well.

* * *

Noah Stilinski was taking a moment to just sit at his desk, silent in thought. His son had called him a while ago to tell him that he was having dinner at the Tates' house with Malia and her father. He was happy for his son to have a day to just enjoy being with his girlfriend like he should be. In two days, he would be going out on his first date in years. He hadn't been on one since Claudia and he was feeling both excited and a bit anxious. Sure, he'd shown interest in some women over the years but he never really acted on any of it. He would always look down at his hand, toward his wedding band. His date had been married and had a child just like him too, but she didn't keep her wedding ring on.

He told Stiles when he called that he had a date lined up for that Friday night. Noah figured it was time to tell Stiles as he couldn't just keep holding it off and with the topic of dinner with his girlfriend and father, it seemed like a good opportunity. He had been putting it off, as he didn't know if Stiles could handle it. He knew he loved his mother just as much as he did and didn't want for him to feel hurt. Stiles, though, seemed happy. More than happy, he sounded excited. He thought it was good for him to start dating again and had quickly wanted to know who the lucky lady was. Noah would hold onto that for the time being. It was one thing for his son to accept he was dating again. Who he was going to date, that might make things awkward considering who her daughter was.

A knock pulled him out of his thoughts. It was Parrish.

"Hey Parrish," Noah said, straightening up.

"Hey Sheriff," Jordan said back. "You're still here?"

"Oh, I'm heading out in a bit. Run into any trouble out there?"

"No, not really. Most action I got was keeping an underage kid from going into the bar around there. He seemed surprised that I didn't know him off the bat. Said that all deputies in this station should know him."

Noah sighed. "What's his name?"

"I think it was, Virgil?"

"Virgil? Edelman?"

"Yeah, that's right. So, you do know him. He the local troublemaker or something?"

"No, that title proudly belongs to my son. Virgil…I actually think what happened with you today was probably the most trouble he's caused since the kid's been here. I think he lived in a low income area of San Diego before he and his father came to Beacon Hills a little over two years ago. The reason I remember is because there was a bit of an uproar with the parents of the community about him enrolling at Beacon High."

"Why?"

"Well apparently, Virgil had been recently released from juvenile hall after serving around four months. The story was that he had thrown bricks through the back window of a restaurant after it closed. It seemed one of them damaged a gas main and it set off a small explosion. An employee had still been in there and was killed in the blast. Virgil had been charged with arson and second degree manslaughter. He was a minor so he was sentenced to be in juvenile hall until he was 18 and then spend a year in jail."

Jordan thought back to the young man he met earlier today. While Virgil had seemed like he was troubled and had a bit of an attitude, he didn't seem like he was capable of that. Perhaps you didn't know with some people. But, something didn't seem to fit with the story.

"Wait, why would they let him go after four months with charges like that?" he asked the Sheriff.

"The charges were dropped for some reason. After that, his father packed them up and moved them here. Turns out, the man lived here when he was a kid and his mother still did, so they moved in with her. He registered for school but word had gotten out about his history and many parents didn't want their kids to go to school with a killer. I remember that Whittemore sent a petition saying that the only way for him to attend school here was if it was agreed that there would be an officer watching him during school hours. It was done but Virgil never did anything before, during or after school. That's how most of us know him, from having to watch him."

"Wow…wait, how have I never heard of this?"

"Well, it was two years ago, a year before you arrived. And the duty of watching him at school only lasted for little over his first semester when all that stuff with Peter Hale and the Argents started to happen. After that, people's focus went off Virgil and onto all of that. When that stuff started escalating, I pulled watching that kid off our itinerary. Thought it was a waste of time and eventually, he fell into the background. I even started to forget about him, until the accident."

"Accident?" asked Jordan.

"Yeah, a pile-up on the road. Caused when a few drivers witnessed a giant man shaped lizard running onto the street." He shared a look with Parrish as they knew that it was the Kanima. "His father and grandmother had been in it and were killed. I went to tell that kid the news myself. Last I heard, before he graduated, he found a job at one of the auto shops in town."

Jordan just stared. No wonder that kid wanted a drink.

* * *

A/N: I hope you like this original chapter. Slowly, things are starting to deviate and stuff from the main 'episodes' will be greatly different as a result. Right now, Malia is fighting between her genuine human feelings of love for Stiles, and emerging animalistic lust for Theo. And I wanted her father to get some more screen time because I realized that the first episode of Season 5 was the last time we ever saw him again with no explanations. I also hope you liked some further insight into the Hale family, especially seeing Derek, Cora and little Jason. And some insight into Virgil's past and how it fits in the background of the Teen Wolf story.


	8. Dreamcatchers

Chapter 7: Dreamcatchers

A car pulled up in front of the station and, from the passenger seat, Jordan Parrish sighed as he caught sight of it before turning back to Lydia.

"Thanks for the lift," he said calmly to her. "Sorry I had to cut today so short but I completely forgot that a prisoner is getting transferred tonight."

"Don't worry, it's okay. I'm sure we probably would've had another day of nothing."

Like usual, after school, Lydia and Jordan met together at his place to try and work through all the lore and supernatural literature they could to try and unravel the mystery of what he was. And, like what had been usual for the last couple of months, they found nothing.

Jordan could see her distress but he quickly gave her a small smile. "It's alright Lydia. You know, they say that one more day of dead ends really means you're one day closer to finding the way you're looking for."

Lydia rose an eyebrow at him. "By they, do you mean the Chinese because that sounds like something you read off a fortune cookie."

He let out a chuckle. "Okay, you caught me. Still, it is good advice though." That made her drop her gaze and chuckle amusingly to herself too. Jordan let out a deep breath as he sobered himself. "It's okay. We'll know when we know. I just hope it won't be something bad."

"It won't be," she said sternly.

"How do you know?"

Lydia moved her right hand over to be on top of his. "Because you're a good man Jordan Parrish," she told him as if that settled the matter.

Jordan found his hand moving to take hold of hers and they moved to stare square in each other's eyes. Lydia felt a warmth coming from his hand and she wasn't sure if it was from whatever Jordan was or if she was imagining it. They didn't know how long they kept their shared gaze. It could've been a few seconds, or a few minutes, but it all ended when two hard beams of light shined on them. They let go of each other's hands and looked away to see it was from the headlights of a van.

"Oh," Jordan's eyes widened. "It's the transport van. I have to go."

Lydia waved as Jordan hurriedly got out of the car to head into the station. Her eyes followed after him as he went for the front door. She then let out a hard flustered breath and looked up to her mirror to see that her face had gotten a bit reddened.

Deputy Clark was standing in wait in front of the reception desk. She had her arms folded and narrowed her eyes as soon as she caught sight of Jordan coming into the station's front entrance.

"It's about time Parrish," she huffed. "We're about to transport the prisoner."

"I know, I'm sorry," he quickly apologized.

Clark narrowed her eyes at him. "You okay? You seem a bit flustered."

He cleared his throat as he tried to get his mind at what just happened a moment ago. "I'm fine."

"Well, then c'mon. Let's go."

The two deputies headed off for the cells, passing by the Sheriff's office where he was getting himself ready too for a dinner date. Clark already had the cuffs and transport chain jacket prepared Jordan moved to carry them. They met with Mr. Stewart and his escort.

"Let's get him ready," the lawyer told the deputies.

Donovan lifted his head up as his cell door was opened and he saw the small group.

"Stand up straight and keep your hands in front of you," Clark told Donovan.

He sighed but did what he was told. Jordan handed Clark the cuffs and they were thrown on him before he was fitted with the prisoner chain jacket over his chest. Clark then led Donovan out of the cell and Jordan moved to cover his other side as Stewart led them out of there.

In his office, Noah was putting on a necktie over a plaid dress shirt before moving to throw on a light brown dinner jacket. His son Stiles was helping him out and Scott was sitting off to the side, watching. As soon as he was fully dressed, he pulled out a mirror and began fussing on his hair. Scott and Stiles didn't need super senses to tell them that he was nervous.

"Gah," Noah coughed at as he ran his other hand on some out of place strands. "I should've gotten a haircut."

"Well, someone your age should be happy you still have hair to cut," Stiles quipped.

Noah gave him a bit of a sour look but Stiles just smiled enthusiastically back at him.

"I think you look great," Scott chipped in.

"Well, thank you son I should've had," Noah breathed out at him.

Scott smiled and saw as Stiles and his dad suddenly switched expressions as they looked back at each other and Scott fought the urge to laugh. Stiles was annoyed but not as much as he let himself look. His father wasn't so nervous, though it only lasted for a moment as he then went back to fussing, this time over his tie.

"Wow, dad," he said quickly going to try and settle him down. "Dad, it's only one date, okay? The town of Beacon Hills won't implode while you're out with one woman…or man," he playfully threw in.

"It's a woman, Stiles," he told him.

Stiles smiled. "Okay."

Noah smiled too. "A very beautiful woman."

Scott and Stiles shared a look. They've never got many chances to see that look on the Sheriff's face. They couldn't help but both wonder who was responsible for putting it on him.

"What beautiful woman, by the way?" Stiles asked for the both of them. "You still haven't told me who you're taking out."

"Because it's none of your business. Either of yours" he said switching his gaze between either of them. "So keep those super noses of yours out of it."

Scott's eyes widened as Stiles bit down on his bottom lip a bit. But, they were brought out of their conversation when they heard someone shouting from outside the office.

Donovan getting led out through the station by Parrish and Clark, with his lawyer trailing behind them.

"I'm going to be blunt, it's not good, but the DA's offer is still pretty reasonable."

"What's reasonable?" Donovan asked him but was cut off by Clark.

"Talk in the van guys. Let's go."

But Donovan yanked himself out of her grip to look his lawyer square in the face. "No, tell me, what's reasonable?"

Jordan moved over. "Mr. Stewart, are we going to have trouble with your client?" he said sternly as he glared a bit at Donovan.

"No deputy." He then paused as Donovan took a breath and settled a bit. Then he moved to answer him. "They want you for three to five. So, why don't we get to the van and we can discuss a plea bargain that gets you out in two."

Donovan stared at Stewart for a moment as he let it all sink in. Three to five years in prison. Three to five years of his life, gone. A fire began to stir in him and he just let it explode.

"STILINSKI!" he roared.

The door opened and Noah walked out with his son and his friend behind him. His face fell at the sight of Donovan being held by both Parrish and Clark while Stewart was wordlessly trying to get Donovan to be quiet.

But the young man didn't care as he glared at him. "I'm going to kill you!" he spat out.

Noah sighed. "Donovan, if you think that shocks me…remember it was well documented in your Anger Expression Inventory. Deputies, escort the prisoner out."

But Donovan dug his heels in to keep himself from getting taken out as he kept his gaze locked on the man. "I'm not angry like I'm gonna throw a brick through your window. I'm angry, like I'm going to find you, get a knife, and I'm going to stab you with it until you're dead. And, when you look at me and you ask me why, remember right now. Because this is why."

Parrish, Clark and Stewart were all watching Donovan all looking a bit stunned at his declaration. Noah stiffened as they looked at Donovan who was wearing a smug expression on his face.

Scott narrowed his eyes as he picked up the chemo signature Donovan was giving off. Pure hate mixed in with a hard desire for blood. This guy wasn't just ranting. He meant every word he just said. And, no doubt, Stiles could feel what this guy was giving off about his father too and sent a concerned gaze his way.

They were all silent for a moment before it was broken with the sound of slow, hard clapping.

Stiles let out a handful of claps, shaking his head with a smile though it didn't seem to reach his eyes. "Wow. Awesome. That, that was just great," he said mockingly. Everyone turned to look at him as he moved a bit forward to stand at his dad's side. "Beautiful, could you do one more? Give us another one, maybe a bit like Christopher Walkien this time, you know." He smiled widened as Donovan's smug look flattened as he turned to look at him instead of his dad. "No? Oh, don't worry. It's okay. You'll have plenty of time to work on it when you're in your tiny, little cell. You know, like forever," he finished with a shrug and smug look himself.

Donovan just kept staring at Stiles for a moment as his gaze looked over to see that the Sheriff was fighting to smile. That caused him to snap and he tried to throw himself for them but the deputies grabbed and pulled him back before he could get a foot closer. He then started roaring out in rage as the Sheriff flinched while Scott moved to hold the man's shoulder and Stiles quickly glared at Donovan as he jumped ahead to block his father from his view. He couldn't help but clench his right hand tightly as he felt an itchiness around his fingertips as his claws were crying out for him to bring them out but he resisted the impulse.

"Get him out of here!" Noah ordered them.

Donovan persisted in kicking and screaming as Parrish and Clark pulled on his arms and started dragging him out the door. He caught Stiles' eyes as they glared at him and he moved to match as he was pulled out of sight.

"You alright?" Scott gently asked as he let go of the Sheriff and saw he was still giving off a hard stare at the doorway.

"Yeah," he nodded. "When you've been around pissed off werewolf teenagers enough times, things like that don't really get you that much."

Scott turned to look over at Stiles who was still glaring off at the door as they could hear Donovan wasn't stopping in kicking and screaming as he was taken to the van. Scott saw his best friend's right hand shaking a bit at his side as he tightened it into a hard grip and went over to him. It was a good thing that Donovan didn't get closer to the Sheriff or he had a feeling he would be heading for the Beacon Memorial instead of County Jail.

"Hey, what the hell's an Anger Expression Inventory?" Scott asked.

"It's a test you take when you're applying to be a deputy," Stiles answered for him.

Scott's eyes widened. "That guy wanted to be a cop?!" he asked incredulously. The very idea of Donovan being in a police officer's uniform was unbelievable and after everything he'd seen and been through, that was saying something.

Stiles scoffed. "Well, at least now he's getting the full law enforcement experience," he said with petty satisfaction.

"Why don't you boys head on out now?" Noah told them. "And Stiles, I know it's been a rough day today but try to relax and take it easy tonight, okay?"

Stiles let out a small sigh but he nodded and Scott followed him out of the station without a word. They got to the jeep but didn't leave right away though it wasn't by choice. Stiles kept turning the key but the engine just kept refusing to start.

"C'mon," Stiles moaned as he kept trying. This was starting to get aggravating for him to deal with all the time. His eyes went up when he felt that Scott had his eyes on him. "It's anxiety."

"What is?" asked Scott.

"What I'm giving off. We're all acutely aware how often you monitor my chemo signature."

"Well something is bothering you. Even your dad said so. Is it about what just happened with Donovan and your dad?"

"It's not about Donovan," Stiles sternly breathed out.

"Is it about your dad dating again?" Scott guessed next.

"No, it's not. I'm happy for him, really. Okay? You can relax." He then turned the key again but the engine still refused to start. "Damn," he grit his teeth and slammed his hand down on the wheel.

Scott stayed silent for a moment as he watched Stiles move to take a deep breath and just move to grip the wheel with both of his hands as he let his back lean into the seat. "So, what is it about?" he asked after a moment.

Stiles sighed as he looked over at him before shaking his head. "Alright." He then dug into his pocket and pulled out his phone. "A few hours ago, Braeden sent me this. It's the first solid lead we've had on The Desert Wolf in months."

He handed Scott the phone as soon as he got to the picture. Scott's jaw dropped as he looked at it. There were half a dozen bodies there, mauled and their blood was all over the surrounding walls and floor. And on the floor, there was a word written in their blood. It said FOUND ME.

"The Desert Wolf did this?"

"Yeah," Stiles huffed out. "And I'm the one who's been pulling on this thread."

For years, the Desert Wolf has been silent and hidden. Stiles knew that in order to find anything, he had to put some feelers out. He not only asked Braeden for help, but had asked Derek, Satomi and even Scott's dad if they could use their resources and connections to help look for any sign of her. Now, she suddenly shows up and begins leaving a trail of bodies behind. He knew that couldn't be a coincidence, especially with that blood message attached. Word must've gotten to the Desert Wolf, this Corrine that he was digging around for her. Malia's mother was trying to send him a message.

"Maybe you should stop," Scott suggested, unknowingly saying the message out loud.

But Stiles shook his head. "It's not up to me. I showed my dad when I got it and he said that I should go and tell Malia."

"Are you going to?"

He was still for a moment before he closed his eyes and nodded his head. After all, he learned his lesson when he tried to hide the truth about Peter being her father from Malia. "But tomorrow. Right now, she's having a girl's night with Lydia and Kira. She doesn't need this spoiling it."

He then turned the key again and the jeep finally roared to life.

* * *

The transport van was in full speed on the somewhat empty road. Donovan was cuffed and sitting across from a guard while Mr. Stewart was in the passenger seat. He was glaring slightly at the road in front of him.

"Well done," Stewart said before turning to look at Donovan through the metal grate. "Threatening the Sheriff in front of his entire department _and_ his son. I'll be lucky to get you three to five decades, you realize that?"

He let out a huff as Donovan was silently glaring to the distance. He cursed Donovan's timing. If only the guy had been this quiet as they were leaving the station.

Donovan barely registered what Stewart was saying. His mind was on the Sheriff…and his son, Stiles he liked being called. He remembered seeing Stiles a few times in high school before he graduated two years ago. He remembered halfway into his senior year when word spread about the sophomore who had helped Derek Hale expose Kate Argent as the one that committed those murders and caused the Hale Fire. Not only that, but he heard the kid had been caught a few times trying to sneak his way onto crime scenes for years. Donovan remembered his dad telling him that word was going around that the Sheriff's son wanted to follow in his father's footsteps. Seeing that mouthy brat standing there, coming out of his dad's office and then smugly run his mouth like he helped his dad run the place made his blood boil. No doubt Stilinski was going to help his son become a cop while he was off, stuck in a cell. His fingernails started to dig a little into his palms. Donovan wanted to kill the Sheriff even more now.

The van started to speed up a little bit and Stewart looked over at the driver. "You mind slowing down? I don't think this kid's in any rush to get to prison." But the driver blinked rapidly and flinched when he raised his arm and hissed in pain. "You alright?" he asked him.

"No," he grunted. He pulled his hand free from the wheel and it was stiff. "My hand…I think I'm having-"

The next second, the van started to dart around, and speed up even more.

"Whoa, alright slow down!" Stewart screamed.

"I can't!" the driver screamed back.

Donovan started darting around in his seat and snapped out of his thoughts. "What the hell is going on?!" he spat out.

"He's having a heart attack!" the guard next to him choked out.

The driver grunted as he tried to regain control and stop the car but his body was going numb. He couldn't lift his foot to hit the brake. "My legs! I can't move my legs!" he desperately cried out. He managed to swerve the car a bit to just avoid hitting a pillar as they went into an underpass. "Grab the wheel!" he cried to Stewart.

Stewart moved to grab the wheel to try and steady the van but they didn't slow down.

"Can't you hit the brake?!" Donovan spat at them. But he stopped when he noticed something dripping down onto the nearby shotgun. He looked up and saw that it was coming from three holes on the roof of the van. It didn't look like water, but some kind of clear ooze. "What's happening?"

Stewart was fighting to keep control but the driver's other hand was still on the wheel and was tugging it into the opposite direction. "I got the wheel, let it go!"

"I can't," the driver cried.

"Get off the road!" the guard in the back cried out to them.

"Hit the brake!" Donovan roared at them just before the van started to rub against some asphalt and create sparks.

They were now in a narrow tunnel and were hitting it side to side. The two in the back kept screaming for them to get off the road and hit the brake. Stewart kicked the driver's foot away as he then managed to slam his own foot on the brake and finally stop the van. The four of them took a moment to catch their breath and slow their heartbeats down but they all suddenly heard something. Above them.

The guard in the back went to grab the shotgun. "There's something on the roof."

Donovan's eyes went up. He could hear it. Something was walking on it and causing the van to shake with every step it took. Soon there was some hissing and snarling.

Stewart was darting his eyes around before he saw something outside the driver's side window. "Tracy?"

Tracy eyed her father for a moment before she let out a growl and threw her claws right through the window and tore the driver's throat out. Her father got sprayed with his blood as Donovan started to freak out and panic. He called for his daughter as the guard behind him aimed the shotgun and started to shoot at her. The next minute, Tracy pounced off into the van.

Shotgun shots and snarls filled the van and Donovan threw himself out of the back door a moment later. He grunted as he landed on the hard pavement but quickly got to his feet and started to run off, not looking back as the sounds started to echo in that tunnel.

After a moment, it all stopped. Stewart started to make his way out of his seat and crawled a bit before he pulled himself to his feet. He looked over at his daughter who was calmly staring at him, covered in blood.

"Tracy?" he breathed out.

"Don't worry daddy. I won't let anything happen to you." She smiled as she used the line that he always used on her right before he always left her alone. Tracy had to admit, Theo had been right. This all was fulfilling…and satisfying. And she knew this next part would be just as so. She revealed her fangs to her dad and pounced.

Donovan managed to get to the edge of the tunnel just before he heard Stewart's last scream and he then lost his balance. He lifted his head as he heard something. He looked up and dimly made out The Surgeon standing a few feet away from him. He was carrying something in his hand and as he started to move for him, Donovan saw it looked like an injection gun. He managed to get up and started to run but he was grabbed by the other two doctors and restrained. The Surgeon then moved and brought the gun to Donovan's head where it drilled into his ear and began pumping the Quicksilver compound into him. Donovan screamed as his eyes went completely silver.

* * *

"It's okay if you don't know where he is, it's enough to just put the word out. Hopefully it finds it way back to him and he decides to give a call. I appreciate it, thank you."

Satomi sighed as she hung up the phone. She rubbed at her eyes as she heard someone outside in the hall.

"Satomi?" Wilson's voice called out.

"In here Wilson," she sighed out. A moment later, the door opened but Satomi didn't look up from staring at her phone. "It's a good thing you're here Wilson, I have something I need to share-" She finally looked up at him and saw that he looked frantic. She quickly tensed up. "What is it?"

"Something's happened," he said breathlessly.

* * *

Lydia was driving to pick up Kira with Malia sitting next to her in the passenger seat with some low music playing.

"Are you okay?" Malia suddenly asked her as they started to pull into Kira's neighborhood.

"Yeah, why?" Lydia asked, keeping her eyes straight ahead.

"You seem anxious about something." And Malia had been around Stiles long enough to know the scent of anxiety off the bat. "Your car reeks of it. And it's not just from you."

Lydia guessed it was from her earlier time with Jordan, which she didn't really want to get into right now. "Maybe you're just smelling yourself? Being anxious about getting behind the wheel."

"No." Malia looked away and shrank into the back of her seat. "Smells like…Parrish."

"Yeah, I dropped him off at the station before I picked you up." Lydia straightened a bit in her seat and her fingers fidgeted on the wheel. She could still the heat from his hand holding hers. "You say he was anxious too?"

Malia nodded. "Very anxious. I'd say as much as you were."

Lydia stiffened up. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," she nodded before she narrowed her eyes curiously. "Why?"

"No reason," Lydia sighed before she started to pull in to the sidewalk. "We're here." She then took her seatbelt off and honked her horn to signal Kira. "And you're going to drive."

"What?"

"You heard me. C'mon." She then got out of the car.

Malia blew at the front fringes of her hairline stressfully but got her seatbelt off to get out of the car herself. She stepped out in time to see Kira lightly jogging over to them with her usual smile.

"Hey," she breathed out. But she stopped when she saw them out of the car. "What's up? I thought we were going to mall."

"We are. But Malia's going to drive us there."

Kira's face widened a bit. "She is?" Her dad had told her all about his crash course lesson with Malia, emphasis on crash.

"Yes," Lydia told her sternly. "So, c'mon. Let's go."

Malia got into the driver's seat as Lydia went to sit in the passenger seat and Kira got in the back.

"Okay, let's get going" Kira said, trying not to sound as nervous as she felt. "Just put your hands on the wheel at 10:00 and 2:00."

Malia moved to do just that. Lydia though shook her hands.

"Actually, the recommended position is now 9:00 and 3:00. Prevents you from breaking your thumbs when the air bag is deployed.

"Mine would heal," Malia said bluntly.

Lydia gave her a look before moving to adjust her hands. "Just move your hands, and start it up. We don't want to be too late."

For the first few minutes, the drive seemed to go quite smoothly. Malia managed to get them out of Kira's neighborhood without much incident. Though when they got to the main roads, that's when things got a little…interesting, to say the least. Lydia was giving her directions but Malia was barely starting to register her voice.

Seeing the dark and lonely road, Malia found her grip on the wheel tightening. She blinked and, for a second, found herself on a different road but it had a similar setting. She blinked again to find that she was making the car zig zag through the street, unable to stay in a single lane.

"Malia," Kira said as she gripped her seat hard to steady herself. "You're heading off the road."

Malia gasped and tightened her grip on the wheel even more when there was a sudden beeping noise. "What's that sound?"

"It's warning you that you're to hit that tree," Lydia told her. "Turn. Get back on the road Malia."

Malia just managed to turn them away from hitting a tree and got them back into the road. But, she had gotten so flustered that she was starting to drive them in circles.

"Malia?" Kira asked after the third circle.

"What? You said turn."

"Maybe you could put more gas into it," Lydia said, gripping the headrest of her seat.

Malia then sped the car up as they turned and got them to be somewhat straight again as they headed back down the road.

"Good, good, there you go," Kira said enthusiastically.

"Please shut up," Malia said stiffly.

"Okay, shutting up," she said quickly. It was clear to her that Malia's nerves were only getting more hyped up.

And they acted again when she started to speed them up.

"Okay, just turn left right here," Lydia said, pointing at the turn right up ahead. "Slowly, slowly," she quickly added when she heard the skid of the tires.

Malia slowed down a bit and they managed to get steady again, somewhat. She looked around. She didn't recognize where they were at all.

"Wait, where exactly are we?" she asked them.

Kira leaned forward and frowned. "Yeah, this doesn't look like the way to the mall."

"It is. The mall is downtown and that's where we're going."

"Lydia, if we were going to the mall then shouldn't we have made a right turn back there?" Kira asked her.

Lydia stiffened. Kira was right. Lydia was leading them the wrong way.

"So, I should turn us around?" asked Malia.

"No," Lydia mumbled. "Keep going."

Malia and Kira gave her a look and saw the expression on Lydia's face. It was one that was all too familiar to them at this point.

About ten minutes later, they began to pull into a tunnel and Lydia told Malia to stop the car. The three of them then started to get out of the car.

"I smell blood," Malia told them as soon as she stepped out. "And gunpowder."

They walked down the road a bit before they came across the prison transport van that Lydia had seen with Parrish earlier. It was wrecked and there were bodies lying around. One of them, still moving though barely.

"Call 911," Lydia said as she stared the carnage.

* * *

Brett and Lori Talbot were calmly walking off together into the woods with some crickets going off around them.

"Why do you think Satomi suddenly called for the pack to have an emergency meeting?" Lori suddenly asked.

Her brother gave her a look as they kept walking. "I don't know, and to be honest, I'm kind of scared to know."

Satomi didn't call these things lightly. The last time a meeting like this was called was back during the whole Deadpool crisis. Brett didn't want to think that they were about to face something equally as bad as that again.

After a few more minutes, they made it to the meeting spot where they saw that everyone else was already there. Their pack had once been around over twenty in number but over six months ago had been reduced by roughly half. There were only three others that were Brett and Lori's age while the others were all adults. One of them being the pack's Second Wilson and he called for Satomi at the sight of them.

"Everyone's here now," he told their Alpha.

"Good, then we can get started." She went off to be in the center of them as everyone else all moved to form a circle around her. "I'm sorry that I had to call this meeting so quickly but it seems that there might be a situation."

"What kind of situation?" Brett asked. He knew them both long enough to tell that Satomi and Wilson were both concerned and stressed about something. Whatever this was about, it couldn't be something small.

"Recently, some things have happened in the last few days. I was given word that an unknown rogue werewolf had been found in Beacon Hills, barricaded into the wall of a house. It broke free and attacked friends and members of Scott McCall's pack, including the Alpha himself. They're alright," Satomi quickly said, as she saw alarm come over their faces. "They managed to chase him away."

"If they chased him away then why are you nervous?" asked one of the betas to the side.

"This particular werewolf was not normal. He didn't possess claws, he was armed with talons." She was silent for a moment to let that thought sink in with everyone. She saw her betas start muttering to themselves or look at one another. Brett and Lori shared a shocked look. "The talons were broken off and recovered from this rogue. And that's not all. I was just told about a wolf being spotted at Beacon Hills High School the other night. It attacked Liam and one of his friends."

"Is Liam okay?" Lori quickly asked her.

"He's fine," Satomi assured her. "He managed to chase it away. But wolves are not indigenous to this area and for it to show up right after this strange rogue appeared, I have reason to believe that something might be in the works."

"But you said that this is happening in Beacon Hills, around the high school," said one of the older betas. "Doesn't that make this Scott McCall and his pack's issue? Maybe we shouldn't get involved."

Lori narrowed her eyes at him. "Oh, you mean like how Scott and his pack shouldn't have gotten involved when my brother was about to lose his head or when we were all about the be gunned down?" she asked savagely as her brother glared at him beside her.

He quickly held his hands up in defense. "I didn't mean it like that," he quickly said as everyone's eyes went a little sharp. "I know that they're our allies and they helped with those assassins six months ago, but that was their problem too. This doesn't have anything at all to do with us. Maybe we should just leave it to them and not get involved."

"Settle down," Wilson barked at them.

"He's right. Stop that, right now," ordered Satomi. They all quickly went silent and Lori backed off when Satomi went Alpha and looked directly at her. She waited a moment before continuing. "Yes, under normal circumstances, you would be right that it would be wiser to leave it to them. However, I think that has changed given what Wilson found this afternoon."

"What was it?" asked Brett.

"One of our territory markers…Wilson found it had been wrecked."

"Wrecked?" asked one of the older betas that had been silent until now. "What, you mean it fell or something?"

"It was destroyed," Wilson stressed out. "It was the eastern stone Satomi marked and it was completely reduced to a pile of rubble."

There were a few gasps at that and Brett moved to take his sister's hand and squeeze it a bit. It was one thing to ignore the marker, that meant trespassing. But to go and flat out destroy it, that could be taken as an act of war.

"Could that rogue have done that?" asked one of the younger betas.

"No," Wilson told the kid. "There were no traces or scents that I could pick up or track anywhere around. And I could feel something that felt like…electricity around."

"So maybe lightning struck it?" the young beta suggested. "There was a storm just a few days ago."

"Lightning just strike a rock out of nowhere?" one of the older ones said. "Get real."

"I was just asking."

"Enough," Wilson stepped in before the betas could get into an argument. "Look, we don't know exactly what is going on but with so many things happening at once, it would be foolish to believe that they aren't connected. Or to think that they're going to limit themselves to Beacon Hills and the McCall pack. We are practically next door. If whoever or whatever is behind all this gains momentum, what are the chances it'll decide to come after us next. We have to nip it in bud."

"Thank you Wilson," Satomi said, giving him a look. He nodded and took a step back to let her take over. "He's right, whatever is going on, it's not something we can just ignore and think it'll go away on its own. I called you all of you to warn you that you need to stay on your toes as you go about your day to day routines. Keep a sharp eye on everything and everyone around you and report anything strange you see, hear or feel. Understood?" All of her betas nodded. She then looked over at Brett and Lori. "And for you two, I have a little favor to ask."

* * *

Lydia, Kira and Malia didn't have to wait long before the police arrived. The first one that did happened to be Jordan and he rushed to them as soon as he got out of his police van.

"You three alright?" he asked the three of them though he was looking at Lydia as he did. Malia and Kira nodded but Lydia still had her gaze on the bodies. "Lydia? Did you-"

He didn't have to finish his question. Lydia knew what he was asking.

She nodded. "Yeah. I felt it."

Jordan then looked over to the headlights of approaching police cars. He told them to stay off to the side and let him take care of it. In ten minutes, the area filled with activity as police, coroner and EMT's covered the place. Jordan had been surprised when he saw the Sheriff arriving, still in the suit he left the station in.

"I came as soon as I heard," he said before he pulled Parrish aside. He chanced a look over at the girls. "Did Lydia-"

"Yes," his deputy nodded. "Something attacked this van. I found claw marks on all three them." Jordan then sighed. "Stewart's dead. And the guards of the transport, it's not looking too good. EMT's think there's a good chance they might be comatose."

"God," the Sheriff sighed. "What about Donovan?"

Jordan shook his head. "No sign of him. Do you think he might've done this? Could he have been a werewolf or something?"

He went to grab at his hips as he looked over at the attacked van. "I don't know. We'll have to wait to find out for sure, though if I know my son, we won't have to wait very long."

Scott and Stiles had been driving off in the jeep when the police scanner in there picked up the call about the transport. They arrived just in time to see the last of the officers still barely alive being led off on a gurney. Parrish caught sight of them and told the officers to let them through. The two of them saw the girls to the side but they saw that Stiles' dad was heading over for them. Stiles frowned at seeing him as that meant he had to skip out on having his date tonight.

"What happened?" Stiles asked him.

"Not sure, but it looks like something attacked them. Now, you boys were there at the station and saw Donovan. Do you think he could've been like you two?"

Scott and Stiles shared a doubtful look.

"Don't think so," said Scott, shaking his head. "He didn't smell like us."

"Yeah, besides if he was a werewolf then he wouldn't have been carried out of the station as easily as he was," Stiles said as he remembered how Donovan got carried out during his meltdown at his dad. If he had a werewolf's strength then he would've easily broken free.

"Well, human or not, there's a chance he might've just killed his lawyer and mortally wounded two officers. We've got an APB on him." He looked a bit uneasy at Stiles before quickly turning to Scott. "Do you think you can find him faster?"

"Yeah," Scott nodded.

Stiles rose his eyebrows. "Not me?"

"Maybe it wouldn't be such a good idea for you to go and look for Donovan," his dad said hesitantly.

Scott understood the Sheriff's worry. He was too. Stiles was staring at his dad and Scott put a hand on hiss shoulder. "It's okay, we both don't need to track him. Why don't you stay and see if you can find anything with the van?" he suggested.

Stiles narrowed his eyes as he stared at the wrecked vehicle for a moment before he let out a deep heated breath. "Okay, I'll stick around."

Stiles' father went and handed Scott a radio. "Keep it on channel 2"

Scott took the radio and headed off. He picked up Donovan's scent leaving the tunnel and went in hot pursuit. He found it heading for a fence and he jumped over it and landed firmly on his feet at the other side. His red eyes glowed for a moment before he took off after it.

Back at the van, Stiles was sniffing around but couldn't get too close to the van with the coroner still around. The smell of blood was mixed in with gunpowder as it all drifted through the air of the broken down van.

Up above, Theo was watching from behind a pillar, downwind, so that Stiles didn't pick up his scent. He was surveying the aftermath of Tracy's attack on the transport. Apparently, this Donovan guy was a candidate to be a test subject for the Doctors. The Surgeon wanted for Theo to give them access and he managed to convince Tracy to help him out. She was eager to finally let loose all the aggression she had built up on the people who treated her like a weak and helpless thing and wanted to start on her father. Theo couldn't help but be impressed at the damage she did after only having her powers unlocked for two days. He smirked down at where Stiles had been left behind by Scott but quickly backed around the column a moment later when he noticed Stiles turning around.

Stiles had felt a prickly feeling at the back of his head and turned to look up on the overpass. There was nothing there but he couldn't help but glare slightly regardless. His father started to come over and stand right beside him. He noticed Stiles looking up at a spot of the overpass with a small degree of focus.

"What is it? Is something wrong?" Noah asked him.

Stiles let a hard puff out from his nose. "Maybe…probably not." He then looked back down at the van.

Noah could only guess his son might be a little hurt he turned to Scott for his help instead of him. "You know, Stiles…I wasn't trying to upset you or anything back there. It's just that Donovan is pretty angry with me and I know you're still upset about what happened back at the station. Now, with all this, I didn't want things to get more out of hand by having you and him get close so soon after which is why I asked Scott to go after him."

Stiles held his hand out to him. "Dad, it's fine. I get it. You can relax, I'm okay."

He nodded. It was clear that he wanted to move passed this as much as he did. "So, smell anything?" he asked his son.

Stiles' frown flattened a bit and he took a few more sniffs. "The only scents I'm picking up at this van are Stewart's, the two officers and Donovan. Just the four of them."

"So, then Donovan really could've done this?"

But Stiles shook his head as he crutched down in front of the open back doors. "No, I don't think so. His scent, I smell it perfectly. He was terrified. Just as much as the other three were."

Stiles let his hand go down on the pavement and as soon as his fingers made contact, he found everything around him disappear and found himself staring down at Donovan on the ground. He had a look of terror on his face as he struggled to get to his feet as there were sounds of growling coming from inside the van. But he couldn't see inside and everything around them was foggy. Stiles then snapped out of it before he could see or hear more.

"Stiles?" his father said in concern. "You just froze up. Is something wrong?"

Stiles blinked. It might not have been too strong but he knew he just tapped into an event scar. Probably from Donovan's fear mixed with the other three. "They were attacked, all four of them. By someone or something else. I just can't tell who it is."

"Why? Shouldn't they have left a scent for you and Scott to pick up?"

He shook his head. "There are shapeshifters who are able to mask and hide their scent from being picked up. Whoever attacked the van probably wants to make sure we can't track after them."

"You sound like you might already have an idea of who that might be," Noah said knowingly as his son got firmly to his feet.

"Yeah, I think I might."

Up above them, Theo was chancing sticking his head out for another look at them.

Over in the alleys, Scott was still tracking Donovan's scent and it led him to a condemned building. He was looking around when he suddenly heard shouting coming from the side. He saw someone moving for him and he quickly grabbed and threw them to the ground. He looked down to see Donovan, shaking and looking at him in complete terror.

He then pulled out the radio. "Guys," he called in.

Parrish picked up Scott's voice and he called everyone to him. "Scott, is that you?"

" _Yeah, I found Donovan_ " they all heard him say. " _He's completely freaked out and he keeps saying some name._ "

Noah grabbed the radio. "What name?" he asked him.

"Theo," Stiles mumbled.

Malia heard him. And so did Theo from his hiding spot.

" _Tracy. He keeps saying Tracy_."

"Tracy who?" Noah asked.

"Stewart," Lydia answered. "Tracy Stewart."

* * *

Over in the forest, some recently dug ground was rising. A few seconds later, the ground broke as a young woman was digging herself out. She took a deep breath as her head hit the air before she began to cough and spit out some dirt. In the meantime, she was being watched up in the trees by Theo. He knew where the doctors had buried their two most recent experiments and it seemed he had arrived just in time for one's incubation process to be finished. He already had Tracy, and after tonight, he might potentially have another after Donovan's injections kick in, but right now it didn't seem like it would be quite enough.

Once the girl was out of the hole, she started to move and clean the dirt that clung to her. Yet, she flinched as she cut herself. "Ow," she hissed as he brought her hands up and then gasped as she saw there were sharp long nails growing out of her fingertips. They were like some kind of needles. Her eyes began to let off a dim orange glow as she started stumbling a bit with every step she took as she kept her startled gaze on them. "Wait…what is this?" she gasped as she kept backing up until her back hit a tree.

"They're your new claws."

She quickly turned around to find Theo standing up on the branches. She backed away a bit and he smirked down at her. After a moment, he jumped down and landed firmly on his feet, in front of her.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"I'm like you," he said with a smirk.

Theo then revealed his glowing yellow eyes and she glared at him.

"Did you do this to me?!" she cried. "What have you done to me?!"

Theo held his hands in a slight calming gesture. "Hey wait, just calm down."

But the girl didn't seem to settle down in the slightest. The glow of her eyes brightened and she charged for him. Theo darted off to the side to dodge the slash she attempted to make on him. Her claws missed him and struck at the tree he had jumped off from and five deep lines were carved into it. She froze as she surveyed what she had done to that tree. Theo's eyes rose in amazement too at how deep those carvings were.

She was now looking at her new claws again. Not with fear, but with awe. She had cut through that tree like it was butter and it felt…good. "I did that?"

Theo straightened himself back up. "You did. What's your name?"

"Courtney," she answered. "You said you're like me. What are you?"

"I'm a werewolf." He then emphasized it by extending his hands to bring out his claws.

Her eyes widened. "You're a werewolf? Like, a real werewolf?"

He shrugged. "Real enough."

She then dropped her gaze from him back to her hands. To her needle like fingernails. "Are you saying that I'm a werewolf too?"

"Not exactly."

"But you said you're like me?"

Theo shrugged again. "Part werewolf, yes. But…with a little something, extra."

He knew the Doctors used werewolf DNA as the base of their projects. Yet, they were mixing components and features from other creatures and animals as part of their research. That first guy, Belasko, he had been infused with both werewolf and crow DNA. He also had been surgically given the talons from a garuda that was killed by hunters over ten years ago. And Tracy no doubt had Kanima DNA and venom mixed within her. For this one, Theo couldn't be sure as he couldn't think of what animal or creature had sharp, needle like claws but it was clear they were quite strong.

Courtney held up her hands to show her claws to him. "Are my hands stuck like this?"

He shook his head. "Just calm down. You can retract them back into yourself. Breathe and clear your mind." He then demonstrated by holding out his claws and letting her watch as his hand shifted back to normal before her eyes.

Courtney followed his example and took a deep breath as she cleared her mind. After a moment, the long nails started to fold in on themselves and pretty soon, her hand was back to normal. She flexed her fingers and touched the fingertips, as if to make sure they were truly gone.

"Whoa," she breathed.

"Impressive," Theo mumbled.

It truly was. While creations of the doctors were quicker to rein in their shifts and power faster than natural supernaturals, Courtney had managed to gain a good handle on it faster than normal. Could it be because she was a mature subject? As Theo was now looking at her up close, he saw that this girl didn't seem very familiar. He couldn't recall seeing her around at the high school but didn't seem too much older so she probably finished school maybe one or two years ago.

After spending about a minute looking at her hands and at what she did to the tree, Courtney looked back at Theo. "What else can I do?"

He let a smile creep up on him. It looks like this might be easier than he thought. While he was slowly making progress with Scott, Malia, and the others, Stiles was still suspicious as he had been ready to accuse him of the attack on the transport by impulse. The guy was tenacious, Theo would give him that. Stiles would be watchful of his every move, word, and be on the lookout for his scent the whole time. He would need help to make the moves that he couldn't make if he was going to end up with the ultimate pack.

* * *

It was the morning before school and the whole pack was there. Scott, Stiles, Kira, Malia, Lydia, Liam and now Mason. They were there to talk about Tracy and what their next moves would be.

"Tracy wasn't just having trouble sleeping, it was a real disorder. She was having night terrors," Lydia explained to them.

"Yeah, well now she's the night terror," Stiles mumbled to them as he unconsciously drew spirals with his finger. "Especially since no one could find her."

"And you couldn't pick up her scent anywhere?" asked Kira.

Stiles moved to aggressively rub at his eyes. "No, not a trace. It was like she wasn't even there."

"So, she can hide it?" Liam asked. "How can she do that? I thought that was supposed to be hard to learn. I mean it took you and me over two weeks of practice before we finally got it."

Scott's eyes shot up. "Wait, you two can hide your scent now?

Liam nodded. "Yeah, we picked it up over a week ago. Satomi and Wilson helped us."

He then looked over at Stiles. "You didn't tell me that."

"Huh? Oh yeah, it must've slipped my mind in the wake of all the death starting up in town again," he said glumly.

First Stiles and his event scars and now both him and Liam being able to hide their scents. Made him wonder what else they have been up to together in the last six months while he'd been studying and working at the hospital.

Malia rose her eyes as she looked at Stiles. "Well, if we get through this, then you're going to teach me."

Scott cut in. "Look I know we're all tired and miserable…" He looked at each one of them but froze as he looked upon Mason and found that he was the only one smiling amongst them. "Except for you."

He jumped at the sudden attention. "Oh, I'm sorry. This is all just mind-blowing." He then looked over at Kira. "You're a kitsune. I don't even know what that is."

Kira blushed a bit. "I'm still learning."

Stiles rolled his eyes before he looked over at Liam. "Liam, we said you could tell him. Not invite him to the Inner Circle."

Mason's eyes nearly popped. "I'm in the Inner Circle?" he asked excitedly.

"No," both Stiles and Liam said sharply.

"Guys," Scott said breaking this up. "Back to Tracy." He then looked over at Stiles and Liam. "Do you think Satomi turned her?"

Both Stiles and Liam shook their heads. They knew every single member of Satomi's pack and Tracy was not one of them.

"We've never seen her with the others. And Satomi would've said something, right?" Liam asked Stiles.

He nodded. "Yeah, if she were going to turn someone she knew went to school with us then she would've given us a heads up."

"Then who turned her?" Kira asked. "Could there be another Alpha hiding somewhere?"

Scott shook his head. "I don't know. But the best way to find out is to find Tracy. And we can. There's six of us and she's just one lone wolf."

"One lone serial-killing wolf," Malia said.

"Uh, she only killed one person," Stiles pointed out. "The other two were mauled." He then looked up to see Scott giving him a short look. "Well, when do find her, what happens after that?"

"I say we put her down," Malia threw in.

Everyone went silent at that. Scott's jaw tightened a bit as he didn't want to consider that option. Stiles looked to be considering Malia's suggestion, Scott wasn't too surprised there. But it also seemed that Liam, Lydia and even Kira were giving it some thought, even if they seemed a bit uncomfortable at the idea.

Mason's eyes widened at the air that came over the group. "Intense," he said, breaking through the silence.

Scott shook his head. "Guys, let's just focus on catching her first. We'll figure out the rest after that. Okay?"

They all sighed but nodded just the same. They all then started to head off into the school and Mason took off with Liam.

"So, this is what you and those guys do all the time?" he asked his werewolf friend.

Liam shrugged. "More or less."

"Sick," Mason muttered breathlessly.

* * *

Noah was at his desk, letting his head rest in between the palms of his hands. A long opened envelope was in his hands and he was staring at it as his mind went a mile a minute. He had just gotten off the phone with his old partner just a few moments ago. He thought it would be best for him to give the latest news about his son.

"I guess we all can't have a son as smart and heroic as yours, can we, _Sheriff_!"

Those had been the last words Donati had sarcastically screamed at him before the man had hung up on him after he finished telling him about what had happened with his son the previous night. Things between him and his former partner Donati hadn't really been too good since the night he'd been hurt on duty. Noah always felt a little guilty for what happened. Donati hadn't really talked to him much since then and the times they had were tense when Donovan had started acting out. But, now with all these new events with his son Donovan, they seemed only to have gotten worse.

"Sheriff?" Noah looked up and saw Parrish standing there. "He's awake."

Noah sighed and placed the envelope into one of his drawers before getting up. It was time to see what Donovan knew from last night.

Donovan was sitting up against the wall of the holding cell back at the station. He was staring at his hands as he was rocking slightly and not saying a word. He barely reacted when Noah and Parrish opened his cell and he moved to stand a few feet in front of him.

"I want my lawyer," he said, not tearing his eyes away from his hands.

"Your lawyer's dead," Noah reminded him.

Donovan rolled his eyes. "I want another lawyer."

"I know you saw something," he said gently to the kid. "Tracy killed her father and mortally wounded two officers. One girl against three grown men. No matter how unbelievable you think it's going to sound, I promise you can tell me."

Donovan snorted. "I like that tone of voice Sheriff. It's nice. Makes you seem like someone who wants to help." He was starting to get pissed off again, like he usually did when the Sheriff was in his airspace for too long. But he stopped with his tirade when he felt pressure in his inner right ear and started to hear a deafening ringing sound. He moved to grab his ear as both the Sheriff and his deputy looked at him curiously. But, it went away after a moment and Donovan looked up to glare at them. "I want a new lawyer."

Noah sighed and he nodded before he started to back away from the cell. It was clear that if Donovan did see something during Tracy's attack, he wasn't going to tell him.

"I found out why we couldn't find Tracy last night," Parrish told him as soon as he got out of there. "She was in the hospital?"

"Doing what?"

"Killing her psychiatrist," he answered.

Noah let a deep and tired sigh loose. "Alright, I'm going to head on over there. You let Scott, Stiles and Lydia know but tell them that I don't want them to getting into this just yet."

Jordan had a feeling that they would be doing just that if they weren't already. "You sure we shouldn't be putting them on the payroll?" he suggested half-heartedly.

"I'm starting to wonder."

Noah then took off and Jordan left the holding area behind him. Donovan glared as they left. He didn't hear too clearly what they were saying but he heard the Sheriff mention his son's name. He tightened his hand into a fist just as the ringing started up again, but this time, it didn't hurt.

* * *

Before they could separate for their respective classes, Stiles pulled Malia aside and showed her the picture that Braeden had sent him. She quietly stared at it for a while, without moving a muscle.

"I wanted to show this to you as soon as I got it, but my lack of self-control," he said, trailing off pathetically.

But Malia didn't move her eyes from the photo. "My mother did this?"

"Yeah. Braeden did tell me that these guys were bad. Very bad." She had told him that they were hitmen for hire. Some of the shadiest in the business.

"So, they deserved it?"

Stiles took a moment to think. "Well…yeah, I guess. Not sure if anyone deserves _that_ , per say though."

She nodded. "Yeah, well I guess we know two more things."

"What?"

Malia finally tore her eyes from the phone to look at him. "One…she's good at her job."

Stiles couldn't help but nod. "What's the other?"

Malia moved to zoom in on the message written in blood. "She knows you are too."

* * *

Liam and Mason headed into history class just as the bell began to ring. Liam took a moment to stop and look upon Hayden, who was giving him a blank stare. It looked like the seat next to her was taken though. This meant that he might be able to find a seat a good distance away and be relaxed during history class for once. But Mason grabbed him before he could finish making his way to the nearest empty seat.

"What?" he asked him.

Mason pointed to the seat that was next to Hayden. Liam took a closer look and his eyes widened when he realized just who was the one sitting in it. It was Tracy. Liam took Mason and pulled him back out of the classroom.

"What do we do?" Mason asked him.

"I got to find Scott. He has to know."

"What about me? What do I do?"

"Uh, find a way to get everyone out of there." Liam then took off to head for Scott's AP Biology class.

"But, how am I supposed to do that?" Mason hissed after him but Liam was already gone.

Mason started pacing as he didn't know how he was supposed to clear a room of kids away from a werewolf that went and killed her own father last night. His eyes then fell on a fire alarm on the wall.

In the Biology classroom, Scott, Kira, Lydia and Theo were getting back their exam results back from their teacher Ms. Ramsey.

"Scott, good to see where your priorities are," she said to him as she handed back the test.

Scott looked down and saw that he had gotten an 86. He couldn't help the relieved smile that came on his face.

Ramsey noticed it as well and looked right at him as she got back to her desk. "Since you have a good grasp of the subject, how about you lead us in a review of last night's reading?"

Scott's face fell a bit as his teacher gave him a pointed smile. "Uh…sure," he said, quickly opening his textbook.

He hadn't done last night's reading as he had gotten distracted by that business with Donovan and Tracy. He wasn't even sure what page it was and was frantically looking for it. As he was flipping through the pages, he caught sight of Liam through the door. He was frantically waving at him.

"Scott?" Ms. Ramsey asked, pulling his gaze away from Liam to see that she was getting impatient.

"Sorry," he jumped. "Just looking for the page."

He went back to flipping through the book but Liam was still at the door, trying to wave him over. Now, Scott wasn't the only one looking at Liam but Kira and Theo noticed him too.

"Scott?" Ms. Ramsey, said again, more sternly.

"Yeah, one sec. Sorry." Scott then quickly pointed at his ear to let Liam know he was listening.

Liam ducked around the corner and began to speak. "Scott, she's here. She's in history class right now. Tracy."

Theo listened in as well. He smiled to himself. Tracy was sticking to the plan.

They were all snapped out of it when the fire drill began to ring.

Back in the history classroom, Mr. Yukimura had begun writing his notes on the board, oblivious to who was in the back of his class. Tracy was breathing hard as she started hearing distant echoes of people screaming. The sounds of them making her claws start to come out from under the desk, eager to tear into more people.

Her heavy breathing drew Hayden's attention. "Hey, are you alright?" she asked her. But as she got a good look at the girl, she frowned. "Are you even supposed to be in this class?" She then noticed that the girl wasn't even wearing shoes.

The fire drill then sounded and everyone started to get up.

"No rushing please," Mr. Yukimura told them. "I'm sure it's just a drill."

Hayden got up herself but saw that Tracy wasn't moving, still grasping onto her desk tightly as she stared off into space. "Hey, we need to go," she told her. "You alright?"

She finally started to look up and noticed that Scott McCall had walked in and was standing with Liam Dunbar, Mason Hewitt, and Mr. Yukimura. They were looking at her in concern but weren't moving as there were still one or two people still leaving the room. It was just like Theo told her. They were concerned for her and she now had to reel them in. Tracy looked over at Hayden and went to grip her arm, sinking her claws in a bit, making her gasp in pain.

"Tracy," Scott said, slowly going for her. "Tracy, let her go."

She let a hard hiss out but she blinked as everyone around her disappeared. Suddenly, she was seeing those people in masks that took her from her home. She was growing hotter and started to feel dizzy. She blinked rapidly but it only started getting more intense.

"They're coming," she gasped, before she just passed out.

Scott looked down at her to see that her mouth was bleeding out, not blood, but some kind of silvery goo.

* * *

A/N: The chimera Courtney isn't really an original character. It happens to be the chimera that Melissa McCall found dead in her home with Kira's sword stuck in it. That happened to be the only appearance of this chimera so she's a character that I'm completely free to play with and one that Theo will make use of in this new turn of events.


	9. Dreamcatchers part 2

Chapter 8: Dreamcatchers part 2

Scott and Mr. Yukimura were moving Tracy through the halls that were thankfully empty for the fire drill. Stiles and Malia managed to meet up with them just in time to lead the way out so they could take Tracy off to Stiles' jeep. Liam and Hayden were watching after them.

"She wasn't even supposed to be in our class," Hayden hissed out. "Where are they taking her?"

Liam watched after them as they got out the door and went out of their sight. "Hospital I guess," he muttered. Then he looked down at the scratch on her arm that Tracy gave her. Hayden was still rubbing at it a bit. "You need some help getting to the nurse's office?" he gently asked.

But Hayden sneered at him as she pulled herself away from him. "I can take care of it myself, thank you." She then took off without saying another word.

Liam just sighed and shook his head. He had only been trying to be nice and Hayden still rips his head off. Was there any winning with that girl? But he shook his head as this wasn't the time to dwell on that. He turned around in time to see Mason coming over to him with Lydia and Kira in tow a second later.

"I filled them in," Mason told him excitedly.

"Mason said that she bled gray blood from her mouth?" asked Lydia.

Liam nodded. "Yeah, right after she collapsed. Scott and your dad are carrying her over to Stiles jeep with Malia."

"To take to the animal clinic?" Kira asked him. He nodded.

Mason's eyes widened. "They're taking her to an animal clinic?"

The three of them didn't respond to him but kept their attention on the current issue.

Kira sighed out in relief. "That's good. The place is lined with mountain ash, right? She won't be able to escape."

"But even if they keep her contained there, that still won't tell us who turned Tracy," Lydia pointed out.

"Or why this is happening to her," said Kira. "The fainting spell and her bleeding that gray blood. Could she be rejecting the bite?"

"Why would she start rejecting it after she turned?" asked Lydia. She knew from experience that an Alpha's bite either turned you or killed you. If it didn't take then you started bleeding black blood. But it was either or. It didn't work for a while and then start making you sick. "This doesn't make sense."

There was then a ding from Liam's phone and he brought it out to take a look. "Lori just texted me. She wants me to go and meet with her and her brother."

"Why?" Kira asked him.

But it was Lydia who answered. "Satomi."

* * *

Hayden got to the nearest bathroom and moved to clean the blood off her arm. She rubbed at it so she could see just how deep she had been scratched by Tracy's nails. Yet, when it was all cleaned up, there was no scratches or cuts anywhere on her arm.

"Wha-" she breathed out.

She just stared at it as she wondered what was going on.

But there was someone on the other side of the bathroom door who did know. Theo could smell Hayden's confusion and nervousness. It looked like her transition was being quite subtle at the moment. That was a relief. He was already taxed trying to keep tabs on Courtney and Lucas coming into their powers. Then there was the situation with Tracy.

He then headed off for the classroom and moved to the spot of grayish blood on the floor. He crutched down and moved to scoop up some of the blood with his fingers and closely examined it. He knew what it was. Quicksilver, or Mercury. That would mean that Tracy didn't have much time.

He quickly left the room but stopped when he noticed Lydia, Kira, Liam and Mason off to the side, talking. He listened in on them and narrowed his eyes as talk got to Satomi. The Alpha that he had caught Stiles frequently meeting with this summer.

* * *

Derek was looking down at the photo of the bodies that Braeden sent him along with his sister. She narrowed her eyes as she stared at the carnage.

"So this Desert Wolf did this all on her own?" she asked her brother.

"Completely," he nodded.

"I'm starting to see why Peter hooked up with her. She looks like as much a psychopath as him. Exactly his type."

Derek couldn't resist a small snort. "Peter dated Scott's mom," he said at her questioning gaze.

Cora was taken aback. "You're kidding," she accused.

"Well, tried to date her anyway. Scott and Stiles kind of stepped in and rear ended his car, cutting their first and only date short."

She let a small chuckle loose, wishing she could've seen that, before her eyes fell again onto the picture. She quickly sobered back up. "These men…they weren't hunters, were they?"

"No," Derek said with a shake of his head as he leaned down closer to it. "But Braeden said they were top grade mercenaries. They're known for taking some jobs in the criminal triads now and again. They're no pushovers, that's for sure."

"Yet, the Desert Wolf slaughtered them."

"She did, but this wasn't a typical shapeshifter killing. Take a closer look at the bodies. See something different?"

Cora narrowed her eyes as she tried to sharpen her focus on them. It took her a moment but she saw it. In the wounds on the bodies. "Not all of them have claw marks. It looks like they were shot."

Derek sighed. "Apparently, Malia's mother has her own personal arsenal."

"A shapeshifter who uses guns? That's different." Cora knew that most shapeshifters didn't want to bother with weapons since they are practically a weapon already.

"But not new," he said. Kate had kept use of her arsenal after she turned and that was what made her even more deadly. Luckily, she was now locked up in Eichen House. "And this wasn't her first time. It's one of the reasons that she is hard to track as her hits could either have the makings of an animal attack or a shooting homicide."

Cora could sense that Derek was feeling a little scared. She didn't blame him. The Desert Wolf was starting to scare her too. She especially was nervous about the message in blood she left behind. "Where was this anyway?"

"It was a condemned textile factory in Arizona. According to the coroner's report, the time of death was at least four hours before the bodies had been found. She's long gone by now."

"You don't think she'll head to Beacon Hills, do you? For Malia? Peter?"

"No, I don't think so, at least not right away. The Desert Wolf didn't get to where she was by being predictable. Besides, Braeden thinks she's been looking for something."

"What?"

"We don't know."

"I just hope it's not anywhere near us."

"Yeah," Derek nodded. "Me too." He knew they already had enough to deal with, closer to home.

* * *

After leaving Liam and Mason to try and get a lead from Satomi's betas, and with Scott, Stiles and Malia off with Tracy, Lydia and Kira decided to try and see if there was anything at Tracy's that could give them some answers. They were able to sneak into the house and made their way up for her bedroom. But before Lydia could open the door, Kira stopped her.

"Wait, aren't we breaking into a crime scene?" she asked.

Lydia thought for a second but shook her head. "No." She then opened the door and they found that there was police tape wrapped around her bed. "Maybe."

"What are we supposed to be looking for?" Kira asked.

Lydia began to walk around the room. "I don't know. Mostly, I'm just following a feeling."

"Your feelings usually lead to dead bodies."

"Well, let me know if you find one," Lydia said to her, almost nonchalantly.

Kira sighed but nodded as she started to look around. Lydia took a moment to think they had finally gotten to a point that the concept of coming across a dead body was now a normal and numb experience.

They looked around the room and Kira found Tracy's dreamcatcher gift from her father. Lydia then guessed that Tracy was stuck in a night terror, and was killing people in her sleep. They were just hoping that now that she was taken to the Animal Clinic, Deaton could help them find a way to wake her up and snap her out of it.

* * *

The jeep pulled up to the clinic and they could already see Deaton at the front door, waiting for them. Deaton held the doors open for them as Scott, Stiles and Malia quickly carried Tracy inside. They lay her down on the metal table and Deaton moved to grab a light and begin his diagnosis.

"Is she okay?" Scott asked him.

Deaton began to check into her heart rate before moving to look at her eyes.

Stiles was watching off to the side and narrowed his eyes. "Hey, Scott?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you notice something off about Tracy?"

Scott looked down at the unconscious girl as Malia and Deaton looked over at him. After a moment, he nodded. "Yeah, I can't pick up her scent. Even when I'm just a few inches from her."

Stiles nodded in agreement. "Malia?"

Malia shook her head. "No. Me neither."

Deaton looked down at her. "That is strange. As Satomi no doubt taught you, a werewolf has to be conscious to conceal their scent. You can detect nothing at all?"

"Well, I am getting something from that," Scott said, pointing to the gray substance leaking out from Tracy's lips.

"Yeah, and it doesn't smell like blood," Stiles said. They all knew that scent off the bat by now. "What is that?"

Deaton focused on it. "Well I can't be 100% sure, but it seems like it might be mercury."

Tracy's body then had a jolt which got them all to jump a bit in surprise, but she stayed laying on the table.

"Can't you just give her a shot of something?" Malia asked.

"She doesn't look to be in any pain," Deaton told her.

"I meant a shot to kill her," Malia said, poking the bear, or wolves.

Scott and Stiles moved to spare each other a brief look.

Deaton stared at her blankly. "I generally prescribe to a code of ethics that frowns on such measures."

Scott sighed impatiently. "Malia, you know we're not going to do that."

"And how do you know she's not going to kill us?" she said back.

Stiles pointed over to her. "She makes a decent point. My dad sent me a message right before the fire drill. Tracy went and killed her therapist this morning."

"She doesn't know what she's doing. It's not her fault," Scott said to him. "It's whoever turned her."

"Well, either way, Tracy has already killed 2 people in less than 12 hours and mauled two cops." Stiles then pulled out his phone.

"What are you doing?" Scott asked him.

"I promised my dad that I would let him know if anything turned up. I have to tell him we have her here."

Deaton nodded. "Agreed," he said before looking over at Malia. "And while I may argue against euthanasia, I'm not opposed to a little, extra security," he said as he reached for a bottle of mountain ash.

He then threw the dark powder off for the entrance of the room to complete the barrier of ash.

* * *

The sheet was pulled back to reveal the great gash cut into Tracy's therapist's throat. Sheriff Noah Stilinski sighed out heatedly as Melissa McCall just nodded before staring down sadly at the corpse.

"Cause of death, cut throat, most likely caused by-"

"Claws," Noah finished for her with a grunt.

"Yeah," Melissa sighed out. "Death was almost instant."

He then closed his eyes in both physical and mental exhaustion. "How was he found?"

"One of the nurses saw Tracy leaving his office. We're actually used to seeing her around, she comes by every now and then for a session with him, but the nurse noticed that Tracy had no shoes on. Tried to follow after and to see what was wrong, but she lost sight of her so she went back to the office and found him in his chair. Her screaming brought everyone close by and one of the doctors quickly called the station."

Suddenly, they heard a text alert coming from his phone. He picked it up and saw that it was from his son and opened it. "It's Stiles. They found Tracy at the school. Says that she collapsed and they're took her to the animal clinic."

"They're there now?" The Sheriff nodded. "Well, at least they can keep Tracy from hurting anyone else. That mountain ash Deaton has lining his office will keep her from leaving and causing anymore trouble."

Noah then moved to rub at the side of his head. "Why? Why is Tracy doing this?"

"Uh, isn't she just out of control? Because she was freshly turned. Scott told me all about what happened when this all started for him."

"Yeah, Stiles told me all about too but, no," Noah shook his head. "Something just doesn't add up."

He looked back at the therapist's slashed throat. Tracy attacked the transport her father was in, but he was the only one she killed. She only attacked the officers because they were in her way. And now, a hospital full of people in the morning, but she sneaks in, kills her therapist, and sneaks out without any more trouble? Noah then remembered what Stiles told him. How Tracy's scent was being kept from being picked up. This didn't seem all accidental.

But before he could think more on it, a nurse knocked and let herself into the morgue. "Sorry, Melissa, Sheriff, you need to come quick."

"Why? What's wrong?" Melissa asked.

"One of the officers from the attack at the transport. The driver, he's awake."

* * *

Stiles was looking over and saw as the dust settled and the ash had formed a perfect line in the doorway, with no ash scattered anywhere else on the floor. Deaton could see Stiles' rising anxiety as he stared at the line.

"There's no reason to worry Stiles. Tracy won't be able to cross the mountain ash line," he said to him assuredly.

"Yeah, actually that's kind of what I'm worried about. All of us being trapped here, with her," he said giving Tracy a side look.

"Well, I'll be able to leave here with no problems," Deaton told him. "And, I'm confident the three of you can handle one rogue wolf together, and have each other's backs." That made the three of them share looks with each other. "So again, there's no reason to worry."

Malia moved to the edge of the room, standing just a few inches from the barrier. She carefully extended her hand out and a moment later it met the edge and they could all see a wall of blue light. She felt her hand pushed away a second after contact and it disappeared.

"Weird," she said, staring at the doorway.

Stiles moved over and grabbed her hand. "Yeah," he sighed to her.

He then went to extend his own hand out towards the barrier. When it reached the edge, the wall of light appeared again. But Stiles kept his hand out as he tried to push at it. It didn't seem to budge or let his hand move an inch. He then sighed and dropped it before letting himself lean closer to Malia. Scott was watching and his eyes narrowed a bit. Stiles' hand hadn't been thrown back by the barrier like Malia's. His mind then began to run a mile a minute that he almost didn't hear Deaton calling him.

"Scott?" He turned around back to look at Deaton who was getting a scalpel ready. "Would you mind holding her down? I'm going to be trying a few more, invasive tests."

Scott nodded before he looked up over at Stiles. He nodded back and moved over to hold one of Tracy's arms while Scott held down the other. Deaton then moved the scalpel to make an incision on her arm, It ran across the skin but it didn't cut it. He then held it up to see that the edges had been bent back.

"I think we're going to need a bigger blade," Stiles droned out.

Deaton moved to try and keep working, but he seemed to be having difficulty. The lack of answers was starting to get suspenseful and the three teens started to pace around the room. Scott's phone then started buzzing.

"What's up?" Stiles asked him as Scott took a look.

"It's my mom. It's about the driver from the prison transport. She's saying that he's awake and talking with your dad."

As the two boys talked, Deaton was feeling around her neck when something underneath her skin started moving and he pulled his hand back in shock. "Malia, help me turn her," he quickly told her.

Scott waited for his mom to send the next message and it soon came. "She says that the driver didn't suffer a stroke or have a heart attack but he says that he felt his body just lock up."

Locked up? Stiles couldn't help but feel that sounded familiar. "Like…he was paralyzed?" Stiles muttered. That made Scott catch his eye. Stiles gasped. "I think I know what she is."

"Well then would you care to enlighten the rest of us?" Deaton called out to them. "Because this doesn't look too good."

The two of them made their way over where both Deaton and Malia seemed a bit nervous and anxious. Tracy had been turned around on the table Deaton lifted her shirt to show that her back had something…moving along her spine. The four of them kept watching it, in complete suspense, before her back suddenly split open and blood suddenly sprayed out, hitting Scott and Deaton but Stiles and Malia had managed to duck out of the way in time. They then saw that the thing moving was actually a reptilian tail. A tail that was all too familiar to Scott and Stiles.

It was starting to move and Stiles felt his nerves begin light up. He jumped back just before he could get struck with the sharp end of her tail but Deaton had been hit and cut at his arm. Malia had run forward but Tracy's tail spun forward and struck at her wrist, making her stumbled back into the table behind her. Tracy was crutched up on the table as both Scott and Stiles stared at her. Scott tried to take a step towards her but she went and clawed at shoulder. Stiles ran for her and Tracy moved to slash her claws at him next. He managed to catch her at her wrist and stop her attack. Tracy growled before trying to claw him with her other hand but he had already been moving his hand to catch that one too. Stiles bared his teeth as he glared at her attempts to try and pull herself free from his grip. But Tracy moved her tail and it wrapped around Stiles' right leg and gave it a tug. He had been so surprised that his grip loosened and Tracy struck at Stiles' chest, making him cry out in pain. Tracy pulled herself from his grip and then ran out of the room. They all watched Tracy head right for the ash line, and ran through it like it wasn't even there. They caught it breaking away just as Scott and Stiles found themselves unable to keep on their feet and they fell to the floor, flat on their backs.

Now all four of them were all lying helplessly on the floor, the venom Tracy doused them with rendering them completely paralyzed.

"Tracy, she's not a werewolf," Stiles gasped.

Scott let out a pained gasp. "She's a kanima."

"That's why you couldn't detect her scent," Deaton threw in. "Kanima's don't have one in the conventional sense."

"Like Jackson," Scott grunted out as he remembered how they couldn't track him when he was the Kanima.

"Hey Deaton, how the hell did she get through the Mountain Ash?!" Stiles barked out.

"I don't know," he sighed. "It's a barrier that no supernatural creature should be able to cross or break."

"What? Me and Scott both did it," Stiles said hysterically.

"Once," Scott pointed out. "Yours was a fluke and it almost killed me."

"We should've killed her!" Malia shouted out.

"Yeah, and meanwhile Tracy is going out there and probably going to kill someone else." Everyone else thought she was safe and secure with them at the clinic and there would be no one to stop her. "We have to go after her!"

"But we can't move!" Malia cried.

"Listen!" Deaton sternly said to them. "You kids have to concentrate. The three of you should be able to move much faster than I could but you need to focus."

"Focus on what?" cried Malia.

"Healing," Scott told her.

"That's right," said Deaton.

"I don't know how to tell my body to heal!"

"Pain," Stiles grunted out. "It triggers our healing and should help it push the venom out. I've seen it before. Stabbed myself in the leg with my keys once." But he then let out a frustrated grunt. "Ugh, but I can't even move my hands to try and force myself to."

"Pain's not the only way," said Deaton. "Focus could be used as easily as pain. You can will your bodies to heal."

"Then tell us how?!" Malia struggled but couldn't even shake her head.

"Whoa, Malia, it's okay. It won't last long," Scott said to her. "Doc, how do we focus?"

"Think of a body part. Your hands, your feet, even just the tips of your fingers. Imagine them moving. See it in your mind and your body will follow."

Scott, Stiles and Malia let out deep breaths as they tried to focus like Deaton told them and try and get themselves free from the effects of the venom.

* * *

Brett was off with his fellow lacrosse teammates, practicing. He was darting passed anyone trying to intercept him and went and launched the ball for the net, which made a hard whack when it made contact. He then back up and let himself revel in his impressive goal.

Liam and Mason had arrived and Mason was ogling Brett. Half of which had to do with the fact that he was shirtless. The other half being that he was trying to take in the fact that he was another werewolf.

"This guy is a werewolf too?" he asked Liam, mystified.

Liam crossed his arms, trying to look unimpressed with Brett's recent play. "Yeah," he sighed out.

Mason shook his head as his smile widened as he focused his guys now at Brett's muscled torso. "Oh, this just gets better and better."

"Don't let my brother hear you say that." Liam and Mason turned their heads over to see Lori walking over to them from the side. "It'll get to his head, and god knows it doesn't need to get any bigger than it is now."

Liam snorted. "I hear that."

"Hi Liam," she said, smiling at him.

"Hey Lori," he said, smiling back to her.

"I heard about what happened at the school with the wolf. I'm glad you're okay."

"Thanks."

Mason watched as the two of them smiling at each other for a moment before he cleared his throat, rather loudly.

Lori blinked as she looked over at him. "Uh, Mason, right?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "I remember you, from back during the lacrosse game six months ago. And, you…you're a werewolf too?"

She glanced over at Liam. "You finally told him?"

He nodded a bit sheepishly before she smiled. She then let her golden eyes show and Mason let out an excited gasp.

"Wow," he muttered. "They're just like Liam's."

A while later, the three of them were joined by Brett as Lori started to tell Liam all about the marker being destroyed and Liam told them about the new werewolf in their midst. He then brought out Tracy's picture to them.

"Cute," Brett mused as he looked at the girl. "But I've never seen her."

Lori shook her head. "Me neither. If Satomi turned anyone then she would've told the rest of us to expect new pack members."

"And after that whole Deadpool thing, Satomi isn't really in a hurry to do any recruiting for the pack. Well, at least until we're all back on our feet and things have settled a bit."

Liam nodded. So, he and Stiles had been right. Satomi hadn't turned Tracy. "Something tells me that's not going to be anytime soon," he sighed. "And you guys haven't heard anything about a new Alpha coming into town lately?"

"Not that we know of," Lori said as she shared a look with her brother. "Though a few think that if there was, then they might've been who destroyed the marker."

"We're keeping our eyes out for them now."

"So, is that how it works?" Mason asked them. "Alphas just come in and go around biting and turning whoever they want?"

Brett nodded. "Or you could be born a werewolf like me and my sister. Our family died in a fire and Satomi took us in."

Lori let a sad look pass across her face, one that Liam noticed.

"I'm sorry," he said to her.

She blinked it away. "It was a long time ago."

Brett moved to put a comforting hand on her shoulder and she looked up at him to catch her brother's eye. She moved to put her opposite hand over his and Brett let a small smile come over him. Liam and Mason started to feel like they were intruding on a private and personal moment between the siblings. Liam tried to distract himself with focusing on Tracy's photo but he saw something that made him start zooming in. On her neck specifically. To the necklace she was wearing. A flash of memory passed over his eyes.

"Hey," he mumbled, bringing everyone out of their moment.

"What?" asked Mason.

"Tracy's necklace," he said, moving to show the picture of it to the three of them.

"What about it?" Brett asked.

Liam narrowed his eyes in determination. "I've seen it before."

At the other end of the field, underneath the stands, stood Theo and he narrowed his eyes. It seemed as if it wasn't just Scott's pack he had to navigate through now. He listened in and heard how they were going to the woods to find Tracy's necklace and the two other betas told him that they were going too as their alpha had asked for them to help Scott's pack in any way they could. It would seem that this Satomi that Stiles had been seeing, she and her pack, were going to interfere. That would be a problem. One pack he could navigate his way through, not two. He sighed as he carefully left. Maybe he just found his use for Courtney after all. But, first things first.

* * *

Scott, Stiles, Malia and Deaton were still scattered on the floor of the clinic's examination room, still paralyzed from the venom. None could check the time to see how long they've been paralyzed but from the windows, they can see that the sun had already long set and night had fallen.

"Okay doc," Stiles grunted out. "I don't think the whole focus thing is working out that well. Do you have any more tips and sage advice we can try?"

Deaton turned his eyes to look up at him. "Nothing is coming to mind quite right now," he said dully.

It had been a year since he felt these kind of effects but Scott could sincerely say that he didn't miss feeling this way. His body felt like a lump of lead and he could barely turn his head. He looked over at Malia and noticed that her fingers were moving.

"Malia?" he asked, drawing Stiles and Deaton's attention to them.

"I don't think she cut me that deep," she grunted.

Stiles thought back to her attack. "Yeah, Scott and I got clawed by her but you got cut by her tail."

"The dose of venom wouldn't be as much," Deaton agreed. "Keep going. Keep moving."

Malia let out a cry as she focused on moving her other hand. She cried out as she managed to pull it up and tried to push herself to get to her feet. Pushing on herself, moving her feet as she leaned on the table when she started to wobble about.

"It's working," she gasped as she started regaining the normal feeling in her limbs.

"Wait for us," Stiles cried out to her.

"No. there's no time."

"She's not a werewolf. You won't be able to track her."

"No, I can. She scratched you and Scott. Your blood is on her. I can find her."

"Malia," Scott said, making her look at him. "Save her."

Malia grunted out impatiently. Saving Tracy was the last thing she felt like doing right now. But she swallowed it down and ungracefully stomped out for the exit. She looked down at Stiles as she stepped over him.

"You be careful, you hear me," he told her.

She gave him a nod and moved to head out of the clinic. She pushed out the front doors and was moving like she was suffering a cramp. She sniffed the air and quickly found the trail left by Stiles and Scott's blood. She had the direction and started to quickly limp off. Around a parked mini-van, Theo stuck his head out and followed after her movements. When she was far enough away, he moved closer to the clinic and made sure he was ready to come in when he had to be.

* * *

Lydia and Kira were still in Tracy's room, trying to make sense of what was going on with her.

"Okay, so she killed her dad and he was only trying to help her."

"So was her psychiatrist," Lydia threw in. "And maybe that's why she went to the school? She was looking for someone who was just trying to help."

"Yeah…oh, maybe it was you?" That made Lydia turn to face her. "Or not, you know, since that would mean she wants to kill you."

"No," she said quickly. "You're right. I was trying to help her, but, so was someone else. My mother. What if Tracy went to the school to find my mother?"

"Where is she now?"

Lydia's face fell. "On a date."

"With who?"

* * *

It had been over half a year when there had been an electrical fire at the town bowling alley, a fire that only a few truly knew who and what had been responsible. It had done serious damage and the place had been closed for months while repairs and renovations had been made. That summer, the work had been complete and the bowling alley had reopened. Changes had been made. There were now some billiards added to the lounge area like foosball and even a pool table which brought a larger crowd of people to come and have fun.

Right now, that pool table had a handful guys in their 20's surrounding it. They were calmly playing and talking about random subjects. But, the news about the attack on the police transport came up.

"You know, they say that it was an animal," said one of the guys at the table, leaning a bit on his pool cue.

"Another animal attack?" said another. "Geez, how many does that make now? I've honestly lost count."

"Who knows," the first guy shrugged.

One of the other guys bent down to take aim with his cue, for his shot. "Where'd it happen?" he asked before he took his shot.

"It was over by the overpass downtown. Apparently, a lawyer and two cops got attacked when they taking a prisoner off to County."

"The guy got away?" asked a guy nearby.

He nodded. "Yeah, but they caught him again, like an hour later."

The guy snorted in response. "Now that's crappy luck."

That made the others chuckle in amusement too. But one of them sobered up pretty quick.

"Still, I heard that one of them was killed and the other two were mauled and knocked out, comas. Add that to the growing pile."

"I know. Living in the boonies is supposed to be safer than the big city but I think it was better when I lived in L.A. I swear, a handful of times, I swear I've heard the sound of gunfire echoing out at night a few times, automatics at that. Somebody's got to do something. Things around here just seem to get more and more out of control."

"Yeah, I know. It's like ever since they caught that psycho chick who caused the Hale fire and killed all those people, in these last two years, the killing rate has spiked in this town."

"It's like she made people start to snap. A guy from work, six months ago, he was caught trying to kill some kids at the high school by lighting them on fire. I always thought he was a normal guy."

"I hear you. You know, my neighbor had been in the hospital when those freaks dressed like ninjas came in and attacked everyone with swords last year. Thankfully, no one died but he still has trouble sleeping after that. And they still haven't caught those guys."

Some of them nodded or tightened their stances. Soon, another stepped up.

"I'll raise you one. Remember that kid that went psycho and started killing people left and right until he was found drowned after murdering deputies over at the police station? He and his parents used to live only four houses away from me." That got a few of them to gasp or widen their eyes. "His parents went berserk and ditched town like the day after his funeral."

"Yeah, I went to school with one of those deputies' kids. We went and tagged the house with spray paint a few days after it happened. Probably why," he snorted, making a few of them snort too.

"I lost my girlfriend," one of them of them grunted, making all of them look at him. "She was working a DJ gig at a rave two years ago. They found her, with her throat slit. Just lying there, out in some trashy corner, killed by that psycho kid. So, do I win?" he asked with a rough tone.

That made everyone just be silent for a moment.

"People here are going insane," one of them just huffed out.

"No, not just people. Animals too. Remember that scare at the high school when a coyote got in last year? Or that mountain lion a year before that?"

"What's the deal? It's like you either you meet up with fire loving lunatics, gun or sword wielding nutjobs or you get mauled by a wild animal."

"Or they run into traffic and cause pile ups. Remember that nasty one over a year ago? Some kind of dog, snake or something ran out on Elmwood Drive and caused that six car pile-up. I heard five people died."

As they kept talking, off to the side, in front of the closest bowling lane, sat Virgil who narrowed his eyes at that last part. Virgil had come here on his day off to try and relax but, after listening to all of that from those guys, he felt just as anxious and agitated as ever. Another wild animal not only causing a traffic accident but actually mauling the people inside. That hit too on the nose as memories and old feelings coming back to him.

"What the hell is going on in this town?" he mumbled to himself.

Virgil then heard more from them.

"Yeah, what if it's all not accidents?" said one of them. That made the others turn to him. "You know, what if there is someone out there behind all of it? Or some thing?"

"Some _thing_?" one of them asked skeptically.

"Yeah. I was born in this town. You hear things sometimes. Stories, rumors. Tell me, do any of you believe in the Supernatural?"

That made the small group of them give him a collective spaced out look.

 _Not an accident. Supernatural_

Virgil couldn't help but narrow his eyes as the thoughts ran through his mind as the guy over at the pool table started to get dismissed or argue as he kept going with the others.

He then stepped up to grab a bowling ball from the chute. Virgil stomped onto the lane and put a little more oomph into his throw then needed. He scored a perfect strike. As he moved to sit back down and relax a bit more, he got to thinking. To some of the _stories_ he had heard, from his grandmother. He reached into the pouch strapped to his waste and pulled out his tarot card deck.

Maybe that wasn't such a crazy thought after all.

* * *

Liam, Mason, Brett and Lori were walking together through the woods, as Liam was trying to back track the path he and Stiles had taken the night they were tailing Theo. Though the key word was trying. The sun had long since set and everyone was getting irritable.

Brett finally spoke up. "How much further?" he asked, making Liam stop walking.

"Uh, shouldn't be much further."

"Liam, I hate to tell you this but I think we've been walking in circles for the last half hour," Lori said as she stopped and looked around.

"So wait, we're lost?" Mason asked them.

"We're not lost," Liam said sternly. "I know exactly where we are."

"Yeah, so do I. Right in the middle of nowhere," Brett sighed at him. "What are we even doing out here again?"

"I told you, we're looking for the hole where I saw Tracy's necklace. It's around here somewhere, we just have to keep looking."

Lori moved off to his side. "Liam, wandering around here in the dark isn't going to find the necklace. Maybe we should come back during the day."

"Or get Scott and Stiles," Brett chipped in. "I mean, they've spent a lot of time in these woods the last two years so they know them pretty well. And, if he was following this Theo guy like you said then I'm sure Stiles remembers exactly where you were when you fell down that hole," he said with a tone of amusement at the end part.

Liam stopped walking and turned around the face them. Brett and Lori looked ready to leave so he looked over at Mason, and saw that his look seemed hesitant.

"They do have a good point Liam," Mason said, uncomfortably. "Maybe we should head back."

But Liam shook his head. "No, guys I know it's around here somewhere," he said starting to back up a bit. "If we keep looking for a bit then I know-"

He never got to tell them what he knew because they saw him disappear.

"Liam?" Mason asked before he and the Talbot siblings ran off.

They found Liam on his back, in a hole. Brett and Mason were snickering at the sight of him and even Lori's lip was quivering a bit.

"I guess you found the hole after all," she said underneath a snicker.

Liam had an embarrassed look on his face as he let his head lean back into the dirt. "Please, don't tell anyone about this," he said as he started pulling himself to his feet. Stiles already gave him enough teasing about the well incident, and falling in the first hole, the last thing he needed was more ammunition.

Mason quickly got out his phone and turned on his light to shine down on it as Liam reached around, looking for the necklace.

"Anything?" Brett asked him.

He looked around for a couple more seconds but could find no sign of it. "No, I don't see it anywhere."

"Maybe Tracy came back and got it?" Brett suggested.

Lori extended her hand and Liam took it and she pulled him out of the hole.

"Thanks," he breathed out to her gratefully to her before turning back to Brett. "No, I don't think she took it. She didn't have it on her back at the school."

"Then what happened to it?" Lori asked him.

Mason crutched down. "Hey, I thought you said this was a sinkhole."

Liam shrugged. "It's a hole. What difference does it make?"

"Well, take a look at the edges. These handprints…and all this dirt."

Brett bent down to a close look. He then dug his fingers into the ground and clawed up some dirt into his palm and it made marks that matched them. "She didn't fall in here."

Liam realized it too. "She was buried."

Lori gasped. "She had to dig her way out."

"Intense," Mason breathed out.

"No, not Tracy," Liam mumbled, making the three of them look up at him. Liam was staring off into the distance. "This isn't the right hole."

"What do you mean?" Mason asked him.

"The bridge. The hole was close to the bridge but it's not here. That's why the necklace isn't here. This isn't the right hole."

"Then, who crawled out of this one?" asked Brett.

Lori took a few steps off into the distance. "Or these?"

The guys turned to where Lori was looking and they found that there were two more recently dug holes there.

* * *

Stiles was gritting his teeth as he tried to get himself to regain use of his body. Malia had left what felt like a half hour ago and he didn't like the idea of her being alone against Tracy. He was able to start moving his neck a bit and he then moved to lift it up and slam his head down on the floor. A wave of slight pain flowed across his body and he began to feel a tingle at his fingertips and toes. He did it again, and again.

"Stiles?" Deaton asked as he saw what the boy was doing.

"It's alright," he grunted. "I'm getting some feeling back now." He then started to flex his fingers and turn his feet a bit.

Scott put more effort into focusing on his body and found himself able to turn and wobble his torso a bit. "I think I am too," he slurred out.

Stiles lifted his hands and struggled to move them up a bit so he could push and get himself to sit straight up. He then grit his teeth as he had his legs start folding in on himself before he started to move to stand himself up.

"Stiles, be careful. Slow down," Deaton said to him, seeing him wobbling in his attempt to lift himself.

But Stiles couldn't slow down. He threw himself to stand on his feet, in the middle of the room but he quickly started to lose his balance and was starting to fall backwards. However, before he could fall back down, he was caught from behind.

Scott lifted his right arm and leaned up on one of the legs of the operating table to get a better look at the one that caught his best friend. "Theo?"

"Hey," he grunted as he tried to keep Stiles from falling down.

"What are you doing here?" Stiles hissed out. It was unclear if it was from the pain, or from the displeasure of seeing him.

Theo moved him to lean on the operating table before he moved to pick Deaton up and lean him against the operating table too.

"This is Theo?" Deaton asked them.

Stiles nodded as he tried to straighten himself and stand flat on his feet.

"I heard about Tracy. I've been looking for you and I knew you worked here so I came by."

Scott had managed to pull himself up to lean on the table himself and look up at him. "We lost her," he told him.

"And Malia," Stiles added.

"Let me help," Theo said, looking directly at Scott. "It doesn't have to mean that I'm part of the pack. Or like you accepted me or anything like that. It just means I can help catch this girl."

Scott turned away from Theo to look over at Stiles. He had a hard look on his face. Even though he had just helped him, he didn't look like he was ready to let Theo in. Deaton let his gaze move between the boys before they settled back on Scott.

"Scott," Theo said drawing his gaze back to him. "Let me help you," he said gently to him.

Scott stared at him for a moment before he felt everything in him loosening up.

Stiles could already see that Scott had made his decision. And, Stiles couldn't help but feel a hard heat brewing up in his head that seemed to spread out and burn out the last of the venom.

* * *

After finishing with his interview with the transport driver, Noah had left the hospital and headed back to the station. He had sent a text to Stiles to quickly tell him if anything happened. So far, Stiles hadn't answered him back but he guessed that they were all still doing…whatever Deaton needed them to be doing at the clinic. But right now, it seemed that everything was back in order though. They had both Donovan and Tracy back, safe and sound. It looked like he could go right ahead and cash in his rain check.

He finished throwing his suit from last night back on and met his date outside his office. "Thanks for meeting me here. It's been a hectic day at the station. I probably shouldn't even be-" But he froze once he caught sight of her. Natalie Martin, his date.

She was dressed in a lovely black dress and her hair was groomed and it almost looked like silk in the station's low light.

Natalie smiled at how he seemed to be rendered speechless. She couldn't help but think he looked adorable. "Well, I'm glad you didn't have to cancel again," she said in light jest.

"Me too," he sighed.

They spent a moment, just standing there, smiling at one another. This was going to be a first for the both of them. Neither had really gone on a real date since Noah's wife died or Natalie's divorce. Both couldn't help but feel both excited and awkward about the whole thing.

But Noah noticed something off at the side. "Clark?" He moved over and found Deputy Clark lying at her desk. He was surprised as nodding off during duty wasn't like her at all. But he saw that she looked wide awake. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I can't move," she muttered fearfully to him.

Noah's face fell at that. Natalie looked over and noticed that the deputy at the front desk was lying over it, still as a statue. They then jumped when the doors opened and Lydia came through them with Kira behind her.

"Mom, she's coming!" Lydia frantically cried out to her. "Tracy's coming for you."

"What? What do you mean for me?" she asked her.

But they all heard a low grumbling noise above them and they looked up to find Tracy. She was growling at them with fangs in her mouth as her reptilian tail flapped around behind her back. Lydia and Noah's eyes widened at the sight of the tail. Lydia had seen that kind of tail before and Noah remembered all the stories he heard his son and his friends tell him about Jackson Whittemore after he was bitten.

"Kanima," they both muttered almost inaudibly.

Tracy's eyes went reptilian before she snarled and then leapt out at the girls. They threw themselves out of the way. Noah quickly reached for his handgun and Tracy growled at him.

Over in his cell, Donovan was nodding off a bit, when he felt a sudden jolt. His eyes opened wide and a silver flash went across them before it faded. He blinked a bit to settle himself but he tensed back up when he heard gunshots being fired.

Natalie quickly moved to hid behind a corner as everything around her went crazy. Noah had tried to get Tracy at the shoulder but she avoided the shots and went and clawed him at his arm. His gun flew off and Noah felt everything in his body numbing and he felt to the ground, paralyzed. Tracy heard a whistling sound and turned to see Kira drawing her sword and swinging it around a bit before taking a battle stance.

"Kira!" Noah screamed out at her.

She darted out of the way as Tracy moved to strike at where her head had been and jumped over down a few feet and growled at her. Lydia was leaning against a nearby wall and her mother was off to the side, freaking out at what she was seeing. Kira and Tracy started to fight, each one seeking to land a solid blow on the other with claws or sword. They both darted, ducked and dodged each other's blows, one after the other. Whenever one made a swipe, the other would avoid it and try to counter, only for the first to avoid that one herself.

After Kira managed to spin and dodge a hard swipe from Tracy's tail that ended up knocking a small desk lamp her way, Natalie let out a frightened gasp which drew Lydia's attention.

"Mom, run. Run now!" she told her.

Natalie gasped but took off to do what her daughter said. However, Tracy noticed her fleeing and moved to go and cut Lydia across waist, sending a rush of venom into her body. Lydia gasped in pain and started to feel her legs beginning to give way underneath her.

"Lydia! Lydia!" Natalie screamed. She had turned around to see the front of her daughter's outfit darkening with her blood as she began sliding down the wall, to the ground.

Kira let out an angered growl at the sight of her friend hurt in front of her and charged at Tracy. She managed to bump her down and quickly jumped onto a desk to take the high ground. She took a stance, and the room started to light up a bit as her aura started to burn it's way to the surface. Noah and Tracy's eyes widened at the sight of a fiery fox outline surrounding Kira. She spun her sword and moved to go for Tracy, as Tracy moved to try and attack her again. She spun herself to try and whack Kira with her tail but Kira brought her sword down and caught it at the base, completely severing it from Tracy who let out a pained hissing scream as she felt it cut off. Tracy then started to limp herself away as Kira just stood there, and seemed to revel in the aura surrounding her. Lydia and Noah watched and couldn't help but be mesmerized at the sight. So beautiful and yet so terrifying at the same time. Kira then took a deep breath and as she seemed to calm down, the aura around her began to dim and fizzle out, until it was gone. She blinked and after seeing Lydia on the ground, she dropped her sword and ran to crutch down at her side.

As soon as she did, Malia began to walk into the station. The smell of fresh blood flooded her nose as she came in and saw deputies down, including Stiles' dad, and Lydia bleeding on the floor with Kira trying to help her.

"Careful," Noah muttered to her.

She nodded and began to move to go after her but Lydia called out and stopped her.

"Malia?" She ran over for her but Lydia just blinked as she could read Malia's face clearly. "No. It's not as bad…listen, Tracy, she thinks…she thinks she's asleep. She thinks she's asleep. It's a night terror."

"I don't know what that-"

"She…she's not dreaming. She's not asleep. Get her to understand," she pleaded.

"Malia!" Noah cried desperately to her. "Basement. They're in the basement."

"They?"

"Tracy, and my mother," Lydia cried out to her.

Malia ran off to go after them while Noah narrowed his eyes. Was that the answer that Noah was looking for back at the hospital? Tracy was doing all this because she was in a night terror?

The stairs to the basement were dark and quiet but Malia tensed and readied her claws. There was a trail of blood and she moved to slowly follow after it. She eventually heard a hissing sound and soon found Lydia's mom, paralyzed and being dragged by Tracy. But she stopped when she caught sight of Malia and brought out her kanima eyes and claws. Malia roared in response and shifted fully before leaping forward to let herself loose upon her.

It was pretty even in the beginning but without her tail, Tracy seemed to have lost her edge. Malia managed to gain the upper hand and threw Tracy to the ground. She placed her foot down on her and Tracy struggled for a moment before she slowly started to shift back to normal. Malia didn't let go right away, still angry and full of rage from her attacking her all her friends both here and back at the clinic. But as Tracy gasped and extend her hand, normal and clawless, out to her, Malia blinked and moved to back off her. Tracy began to gasp out for air as Malia shifted back to normal.

"Tracy," she gasped. "Tracy, are you awake? You're not dreaming. Okay?"

Tracy moved to try and get her bearings back before taking deep breaths. After a moment, she blinked as she got back on her feet. "Where am I?" she gasped out.

"It's okay," Malia said, approaching her comfortingly.

Tracy ducked her head as she moved her hand behind her so Malia couldn't see her extending her claws back on it. Tracy let out a whimper to try and draw Malia closer to her. "What happened?" she said in a tiny voice.

"Don't worry. You're okay now."

But Malia was then thrust back when Tracy pushed at her before moving to try and claw at her throat with a hard roar. Malia fell back to the floor and just avoided it. She began to try and shuffle herself back but Tracy closed in. She was about to strike at her, when a needle suddenly came and thrust itself into her neck. She tensed up as the plunger on it was pushed, by a figure in black, wearing a mask.

Malia tried to get back up and stop him, but she was grabbed by another one from behind and then thrown against the wall. She watched as Tracy's mouth opened and she began leaking mercury freely from her mouth.

"Her condition is terminal," the man said in a distorted voice before pulling the needle out and Tracy fell lifelessly to the ground.

Malia was then let go and the figures began to walk out of the basement, leaving Malia there with Tracy's body.

* * *

A/N: It looks like there might be something in the works for Liam and Lori, as well as him and Hayden. I was thinking of there being two love triangles in the works. One with the three of them to help compliment the one with Stiles, Malia and Theo. One where the girl in the middle is caught between affectional love for one and primal lust for the other, and the other where the guy is between a girl that looks at him as her enemy turned love and a girl that looks at him as her hero turned love.


	10. Condition Terminal

Chapter 9: Condition Terminal

Two guys were running through the trees as quick and hard as they could. Leaping over fallen logs, ducking under branches and plowing through brushes. One of those running frantically was Charlie Harris. He was panting hard and he darted off the side just before a bullet went and struck the tree in front of where he just stood. Charlie fell down to ground and rolled for the cover of moss covered boulder. He caught sight of his fellow runner, the beta who had been added to the pack just over two months ago. His name was Miles. He had taken cover behind a thick tree a few yards from him. He looked back at Charlie, his eyes glowing yellow as he frantically tried to scan the area.

The boulder that he was hiding behind was then hit with a bullet that scraped some moss off and land close to his face. "Miles, can you see them?" Charlie called out to him.

"No," he panted just before a bullet hit the tree a few inches close to his face. He then pulled himself fully to the back of the tree.

Some more shots were taken at their cover spots. They were pinned down.

"I can hear them," said Charlie, still crutched on the ground. "They're coming for us."

Miles' breathing began to quicken as his nerves began to break. "Screw this."

"Wait!" Charlie hissed after him as he took off. "We should stay together!" But Miles didn't stop. He kept running off. "Damn it." Charlie took a deep breath before he threw himself up and ran off after him.

The sounds of more gunfire kept hitting his ears a few more times before the latest one made him hear a hard scream of pain. He ran for a few more seconds before stopping as he found Miles, on the ground, clutching at his now bleeding leg. Charlie distantly heard a click and quickly ducked down, just missing a bullet finding its way into him. He was now crawling on his belly, moving for Miles and pulled him to some cover.

"Are you okay?" Charlie asked him as they got behind some shrubs.

"No, of course I'm not okay!" Miles spat out. "I'm shot!"

Charlie looked off to the distance. "Crap, they're getting closer."

"What?" gasped Miles. "I don't hear anything."

Charlie guessed that Miles hadn't fully grasped full use and control of his new senses yet. But he knew this wasn't the time. "We can't stay here. We have to keep moving."

"I can't move my leg," Miles grunted painfully out to him.

"The bullet must be in your nerve," Charlie said as he looked at the wound. "If we want to move then we have to get it out."

He was cut off by some more bullets firing and hitting around where they were hiding.

"How?" Miles cried out, desperately.

"Uh-" Charlie blinked his eyes rapidly until he looked down to Miles' hand to see that his claws were out. He then focused on his own hand and brought out his own claws. He then stuck in his thumb and forefinger into Mitch's wound, digging in and then got it. Mitch was grunting out painfully. "Hold on, I've almost got it," he told him. He then pulled and he looked upon the blood soaked piece of metal. "Alright it's out."

But Miles' eyes widened. "I can hear them now."

Charlie peeked over the shrub and he could make out dark shapes approaching. As soon as he peeked though, one of them tightened their grip on their rifle and he ducked down just before he could get pelted by the ensuing gunfire. He knew that Miles would need time to heal, more than they had.

"Come on," he said as he moved to throw his arm over his shoulder and try to lift him away.

Miles hissed as he lifted his wounded leg up and tried not to put weight on it as he tried to limp away with Charlie. They moved off a few feet before they came upon the barrels of shotguns, held by two men. They turned around and saw that the ones with the rifles had gotten to them and had them pointed right at them. Charlie and Miles tensed before they all lowered their guns. One of them looked over to the side and they all saw Oscar approaching.

"I gotta say, given your backgrounds, tonight's test results were quite disappointing," he told them.

Charlie sighed out heatedly.

* * *

Donovan was freaking out. For the last couple of minutes he'd been hearing screams, roars, and crashing sounds as he was stuck in his cell with nowhere to run.

"Hey, someone let me out of here!" he cried out desperately. "Come on!"

But his heart skipped a beat when the door at the end opened up and three men came in. His face widened when he saw the one that he met in the alley the other night.

The Surgeon came into the holding cell to observe the subject. He looked terrified but seemed to be handling his injections well enough. It seemed that there was a strong possibility that he could be the success they had been waiting for. Opening the cell, he walked gently inside as the young man leapt back against the wall, looking at him nervously. The Surgeon then removed his injector and his fellow doctors went forward to grab and hold him still. He then shoved the needle into the boy's neck and injected a fresh supply of the solution.

Donovan shut his eyes as he struggled against the pain of the injection. It was so much that he couldn't even screamed but did gasp before opening his eyes to show that they were glowing a silver white color before he blacked out. He was then picked up by the Geneticist as the Surgeon led the way as they left the room.

* * *

As soon as the jeep pulled up in front of the station, Scott, Stiles, and Theo immediately picked up the heavy scent of blood coming out of the building. Stiles quickly picked up the scent of his father's blood and he almost threw himself out of his jeep, leaving the door and engine running. Scott and Theo followed after him, watching as Deaton had gotten out of his own car, following after them from the clinic. Stiles quickly spotted one of his dad's deputies at the front desk, lying motionless on top of it.

Scott came in after him and looked at the deputy and sighed. "There's a heartbeat," he said in relief.

That meant he was alive, just most likely paralyzed by Tracy's venom.

"That's a relief," Theo muttered as he stood next to him.

Deaton walked in through the station doors and quickly spotted a small trail of blood on the floor, leading off into the offices. "Boys."

Stiles saw it too and moved off for where his dad's office was and took a moment to see that there was blood smeared in spots all around the room. His eyes then fell upon his father who was struggling to move.

"Dad!" he cried as he ran over for him.

Scott ran in with Theo behind him and quickly spotted Kira kneeling over Lydia, laying flat on the floor, paralyzed and bleeding. He took one second to wonder what they were doing here at the station before heading to them.

Noah had regained use of his arms and somewhat feelings in his legs through Tracy's venom and was trying to pull himself up. "Stiles," he gasped.

Stiles moved to try and help his dad lean up on the nearest desk and he was securing himself on wobbly knees. He then noticed that his dad still had one hand on a dark spot of his dress shirt. "You're still bleeding?"

"It's not bad," his dad hissed immediately.

He was in pain. Stiles frowned. He hadn't done this in a while, not since before the night of the eclipse. It wasn't because he had forgotten how to do it or lost that ability after he had gotten his power back. He remembered all too well how to do this, and still was capable of it. He just couldn't bring himself to do it. A few times, others had been hurt and he had tried to help them out, but found himself freezing partway through, unable to finish going through with it. He didn't even show Liam over these last few months of training with him; relying on Satomi to teach him that particular trick herself. But his father was hurting and he wouldn't put helping him off on someone else when he could do it here and now.

"Hold still," he told him. At that, Stiles moved his hand over it and the warmth from his dad's blood started to touch him.

Barely a moment later, the veins in his hand started turning fingertips started turning black. Both Stiles and his father looked down to see it running through the length of his palm. Stiles began to feel the foreign but familiar sting from him siphoning pain. He soon began breathing a little harder and his eyes began to blink a little rapidly. When the black started to get passed his wrist and begin traveling up his arm, he started to feel the bile begin to rush up to his throat. But, Stiles didn't let up. Soon, it got to his head and he began to have clear mental images of Isaac, Coach, his father's deputy, Deaton and dozens of people in the hospital, all in pain and suffering. He then saw himself, a vicious expression on his face and a sword in his hand, readying to plunge it into his victim.

When Noah saw his son place his hand over his wound, he knew already what Stiles was going to do. He was going to pull some of his pain away. Stiles had told him about how he had done it for him back when he had been hit by that car after the mountain lion appeared at the school near two years ago. He'd never seen it done with his own eyes though. He suddenly began to feel a sudden wave of relief and he looked down to see that the veins in his son's hand were starting to turn black. But, he began to feel Stiles begin shaking and he looked up to see that his son's eyes were blinking so rapidly.

"Stiles?" Noah muttered softly. He didn't answer. He just kept pulling pain and a blue glow was starting to shine through his rapidly blinking eyes. He started to begin breathing hard and it seemed to get harder every second. Stiles also seemed to be paling a bit and it looked like he was going to be sick. "Stiles?" he tried again, but more nervously.

Noah knew that doing this caused a werewolf to feel a little pain but what seemed to be happening to Stiles was nothing little. It looked like his son was on the cusp of having a panic attack. He then tried to move his son's hand away but Stiles kept it there.

"Stiles, stop," he hissed at him. "Let go." He then grabbed Stiles' hand and yanked it down. He watched as the veins in his hand turned back to normal and the feeling of pain from his wound came back, though it was slightly less painful. His son didn't stop his shaking and his eyes were still blinking rapidly. Noah suddenly realized what this was. He'd seen it before, back with some guys he served with in his army days. Stiles' hand, stained with his blood, was still outstretched like he was still holding it to his wound. Noah moved to grasp it tightly, at his wrist. "Stiles," he hissed at him. "Breathe, son. Breathe. Focus on my heartbeat, just like you told me you did before. Breathe."

The pictures racing through Stiles' mind stop and he heard his father telling him to focus on his heartbeat. He blinked his glowing eyes one more time before shutting them eyes shut. "I-"

"Just listen to it son," his dad cut in, sternly. He knew this should work. He was his son's anchor after all. His first one.

Stiles coughed a bit and let his ears hone to the rhythm of his father's heart beating in his chest. The familiar thumping sound made Stiles' own heart settle and he found his breath slowing and settling down. After a few more seconds, he opened his eyes, slowly bringing himself to look his father in the face. His eyes were back to normal. "I'm sorry," he muttered.

But Noah shook his head. "You okay?" Stiles dropped his gaze and he deflated. "Stiles, it's alright, I'll heal." He then looked down and noticed the tear at the front of his son's shirt where he saw that there was dried blood from what he guessed was an already closed wound. "Maybe not as fast and well as you," he tried to throw in humorlessly. But he saw that Stiles seemed to still be struggling and his face fell back down again. "I'll be fine, don't worry. I already feel better."

Stiles moved to take a deep breath as he wiped some stressed tears that had welled at the side of his eyes and nodded.

The moment between the two was being watched by Theo. He saw what happened and his eyebrows rose a bit at it. It looked like he just found out something interesting and filed it away. It might be useful in the long run.

And Theo wasn't the only one to take notice of Stiles' reaction either.

Noah felt something tingling at the side of his head, which made him turn over to where the others were, next to Lydia. He focused on Theo, who started to bend down and begin to pull out his belt to wrap around and apply pressure to Lydia's wound. He watched the boy that Stiles suspected for a moment before he looked back at his son. As soon as his eyes left him, Theo spared another look back at the Stilinskis before he and Kira moved to help Lydia try and sit up.

Stiles eyes then zoned out onto where his father was off with Deputy Clark, her uniform darkened at her side from where she was bleeding. He took a step back but stopped when he felt his foot had stepped in something. He looked down to see that it was a spot of blood. His eyes went from the blood below his foot to his father's blood that was on his hand.

Deaton moved over to where there was a severed reptilian tail lying on the ground. "Scott," he hissed as he moved to get his jacket off to try and cover it up.

They managed to conceal it from sight just before Natalie Martin walked in. Her eyes fell on the floor, that was stained with blood before her eyes fell on the group of people standing over the body of her daughter. "No," she cried. "Lydia."

Lydia blinked as she looked up at her mother, who got right to her side, looking at her with shining eyes.

Scott looked out in the direction that Ms. Martin had come from and saw there a fresh scent of blood that seemed to be coming from the basement. "Stiles," he called out.

But Stiles didn't seem to hear Scott. As soon as her mother cried her name, his gaze had fallen on Lydia, rather to where there was a deep wound in her side, that was still bleeding and staining the floor and everyone else's hands with her blood. The scent from all of it was thick in the air as tears built in both Lydia and her mother's eyes as they gazed sadly at one another. The wound then made him remember another person that had been wounded in a similar way.

"Malia," he mumbled. She had left the clinic ahead of them, to go after Tracy. He let himself look around but didn't see any sign of her.

"Tracy," Lydia said in a small voice, teary eyed at him. She had heard him say her name. "She went after her."

Scott looked back when he started hearing the approaching sounds of ambulances approaching. They wouldn't have much time, they had to move fast, so he tried again. "Stiles!" That made Stiles finally break his gaze away to look at him. "Come on," he hissed at him before he ran off. Deaton moved to follow after him.

Stiles grit his teeth as he looked back at Lydia and everyone surrounding her.

Kira pulled her eyes away from Lydia to look up at him. "Lydia will be fine, Stiles. Go."

"Yeah, it's okay," Theo threw in. "She'll be alright."

After Noah saw that Clark was fine, he sent her to check on the other deputies before going over to grab his son's shoulder. "Come on son."

Stiles let himself be led out as the two of them followed after Scott and Deaton as they headed into the basement.

Scott practically jumped down to the bottom of the stairs as the scent of blood got stronger and he ran off until he found Malia. She was standing right over the body of Tracy. She turned around and quickly shook her head at the sight of the look on his face.

"It wasn't me," she said quickly.

Right behind Scott came Deaton and Stiles and his father were not too far behind. All their eyes were on Tracy, lying on the floor, a puddle of blood building next to her dead body.

"What the hell happened to her?" Noah hissed out.

"There were these people. There were…three of them." Malia was speaking fast and her eyes were a bit red. "I think they were three."

Stiles blinked at her. "What? What are you talking about?"

"They were strong Stiles!" she cried desperately at him. "They had some kind of weapon. Stiles, I didn't do this!"

Stiles quickly nodded and moved to reach for her to try and show that he believed her. "Okay." He then moved to take her into her arms to try and settle her down. She desperately squeezed him as they embraced.

"She's not changing back," Deaton called out to them from where he and Scott were crutched over Tracy's body. "We're going to need to get her out of here."

Stiles and Malia broke apart while Scott moved to straighten himself up. Yet, before they could do anything, the Sheriff stopped them.

"Whoa," Noah cut in, making them all freeze. "Absolutely not. This is a crime scene. We call the coroner."

"I think the coroner might be very confused by this girl's severed reptilian tail," Deaton threw in there.

"I don't care," Noah spat out.

"You should. Unless you're prepared to hold a press conference to announce the presence of supernatural creatures in Beacon Hills."

"Dad, he's right," Stiles said softly to him.

Noah then started to pace.

Scott sighed. "Maybe, at the clinic, we could figure out a way to change her back, then call the coroner?"

"There…there is a line," the man stammered out. "There is a line that we have to draw."

"Dad," Stiles cut in. "You've already crossed it. More than once."

Noah looked up at his son for a moment, hesitation still clear on his face.

"Sheriff, please," Deaton pleaded with him. "Let me help. I've dealt with things like this before."

After gritting his teeth, the Sheriff shook his head but visibly deflated. "Just do it fast," he conceded.

Deaton nodded before he and Scott moved to scoop Tracy's body up and carry it away. Malia slowly moved after them but Stiles stayed back. He was watching as his father looked down at the spot where Tracy's body had been before he sighed and began running his hand frustratingly across his face. Stiles then turned and followed after the others.

Noah didn't know how long he spent staring at he spot on the floor, but he had left the basement and returned back to the offices to find that everyone had gone. He passed by the front door and could make out Natalie looking downtrodden as they loaded her daughter into the back of the ambulance. He should call Melissa and tell them the kids were on their way. And call Malia's father too.

"Sheriff!" Noah looked over to see Clark running to him.

"Clark," he said, turning to face her. "You don't need to head to the hospital?"

"Sir, it's Donovan."

Noah tensed up. "What happened to him?"

"He's gone."

* * *

Jordan Parrish had just gotten home from his shift that day and he was letting himself rest on his couch. He saw his pack of playing cards nearby and decided to flip through them as he let his mind wander about to what was going on lately.

That whole mess with Tracy for starters. He couldn't help but feel a little responsible for what had happened. Jordan had been watching her after all. Something, he felt there must to have been something that he missed while checking her room or was watching over her. If he had picked up on it, then maybe he could've stopped what had happened. Sure, the logical part of him was telling him that he couldn't blame himself for everything that happened with that girl, but that didn't change the little sliver of blame he was feeling.

Then there was his situation with the Sheriff. Jordan still couldn't shake the feeling that Stilinski was still trying to hold out on him. Recently, his involvement in all this new stuff going on had either been accidental like when he had been attacked at that house because the Sheriff sent him to check that noise complaint; or had found its way to him like when Lydia asked for his help with Tracy. Despite Stiles telling him that his father wasn't mistrusting him, Jordan still felt that the Sheriff was going out of his way to try and distance him from everything. He just couldn't understand why.

He then flipped the next card in the deck and saw that it was a Queen of Diamonds. Jordan stopped and stared at the picture. He couldn't help but think that the picture on the card looked a lot like Lydia. He let out a small sigh as he just stared at the face which seemed to be staring right back at her. Jordan's mind seemed to go back to a memory of him and Lydia together the afternoon before the full moon.

 _Jordan and Lydia were alone at the station, looking at pages of lore about supernatural creatures, trying to find anything to help identify what he was. Lydia suddenly sighed out of nowhere and went to grab the nearby lighter on the desk. She started to turn it on and off, every other second, drawing his attention to her. It was clear to him that she was feeling a little bored._

 _"You going to do a magic trick?" he asked her._

 _She stopped and looked right at him. "No, but you are."_

 _"I only know one trick and it's with a playing card."_

 _"Well, this one involves a lighter and your hand."_

 _"That sounds less like a magic trick and more like assault," he playfully threw in there._

 _"Hey, you did it before, remember?" she reminded him. "That's how you were able to find Argent in those water tunnels."_

 _Jordan remembered. "Yeah, I guess, technically, that makes it a magic trick. Though, I'm kind of tentative with the idea of deliberately burning myself to help me better understand what I am."_

 _"Still, holding your hand over a lighter is not as bad as being lit on fire, trapped in a deputy sheriff's car. Which, I'll remind you, you walked away from unscathed."_

 _He shrugged. "Not entirely. I had to pay for the uniform."_

 _They took a moment to smile amusingly at each other before Lydia's face fell back down._

 _"Give me your hand," she said, before igniting the lighter._

 _He stared for a second before putting his hand out to hover over the flame. He had it a couple of inches over the little flame before Lydia moved to raise it closer to palm. The fire began licking his skin and a moment later, he pulled his hand away._

 _"Son of a-" he hissed out, but still had an amused smile on his face._

 _"You can last a lot longer than that," Lydia smirked. "I want to try something different." She then moved to caress his hand, making him freeze up and look straight up into her eyes. "Don't think about the flame." She then unfolded his hand. "Don't think about the heat." Jordan's eyes then moved down to follow the movement of her lips. "Don't think about it hurting." Lydia raised his hand up, gently running her fingers along it, making him straighten it back up. "Don't even look at it."_

 _He nodded, not letting his eyes leave her. "Okay."_

 _Jordan then let his eyes latch back on to hers as she stared right back at his. Not turning their gaze from each other, Lydia moved the lighter back underneath the palm of his hand, and lit it back up. The fire started to run along the skin of his palm, but Jordan didn't look away from Lydia's bright eyes. Smoke was starting to build around Jordan's hand but neither of them seemed to notice. They just kept staring at each other, eyes never leaving one another, and both not even breathing to distract them from staring. Lydia's eyes sharpened a bit as she saw that Jordan's pupils were dilating, like his eyes were glazing._

 _Suddenly Lydia pulled away. "Ow," she gasped._

 _Jordan jumped, blinking his eyes. "Are you okay?" he quickly asked._

 _"My thumb was too close to the flame," she told him, blowing a bit on it. "I'm okay. What about you?"_

 _Jordan looked down at his hand to see that the spot where the flame had been in his palm had been covered in ash. He rubbed it away and saw that he didn't have a single scratch. "Whoa," he muttered to himself._

 _Lydia saw it too. "Did it hurt?" Jordan shook his head. "When you were staring at me, your eyes kind of…drifted. What were you thinking about?"_

 _He settled back a bit as he thought back to a moment ago. "A dream," he muttered._

 _"What dream?"_

 _"I've had it here and there for the last six months. I'm walking into the woods, carrying a body. But it's completely burned. I can't see who it is, or who it was."_

 _"Where are you taking it?"_

 _"A clearing. There's a huge tree right in the middle of it. You'd think it was 1000 years old. It's real old but it's been cut down."_

 _Lydia sighed. She knew what he was talking about. "It's real. It's a real tree, in a real part of Beacon Hills. It…used the be the center of a grove a trees called a Nemeton."_

 _"What's a nemeton?"_

" _A sacred meeting place for Celtic Druids. They were scientists and healers thousands of years ago."_ 'Ones that didn't end up going psycho,' _she silently added, as memories of Jennifer Blake came back._

 _"I've never seen this place."_

 _"But that's why you're here. It drew you here. That's what it does. It's a beacon for supernatural creatures. It might even make them more powerful."_

 _"Powerful?" he asked._

 _Seeing as how her friends and even some of their enemies had been around that thing, she didn't doubt it. "What else happens?"_

 _He blinked before standing up to look out at the far corner of the room. He took a moment to think before turning back to her. "I put the body down, I lay it down on the rings of the trees and-"_

 _"What?"_

 _Jordan blinked as he saw himself standing over the body before laying it down. His body erupted into flames as he settled the body on the ground, next to another one. He then sat down on the stump as he looked off to gaze at the clearing, filled with bodies. The flames from his body then began to spread out, engulfing the whole field in flames._

 _"Nothing," he said. "That's it. That's the end of the dream."_

His mind was back in his home, looking at the playing card. He flipped it around to reveal that the face now had a scorch mark on it. He then flipped it back again and the mark disappeared. He then let himself reveal the secret to the trick. Two different cards of the same suit, one with the mark and one without it.

He was pulled out of his trance by the ringing of his phone. His eyes widened at the caller's id.

"Stiles," he answered. "What's up?"

* * *

In his apartment, Virgil was hitting a hanging punching bag with a set of black boxing mittens on his hands. He was breathing heavily as he struck at the bag, again and again. He kept going until he heard a notification ping from his phone.

"Whoa," he panted as he wiped off some of the sweat that gathered at his brow.

He went for his phone to see that there had been a local news alert. It looked like there had been some kind of attack at the station. Apparently, a girl had been rushed to the ICU at Beacon Memorial because it looked like she had been deeply stabbed and poisoned. An alert had been put out for a guy named Donovan Donati, who had escaped from the station and it said he was a suspect for what had happened, as he had escaped from his transport that left two guards hurt and a third man dead.

"Another attack at that station?" Virgil mumbled to himself.

He knew about that incident with that kid from school, Matt Daehler, almost two years ago. One of those guys he met at the alley had talked about it. Virgil also remembered that, the night Beacon Memorial had been attacked by men in black with swords, they had been spotted at the station as well. This now makes it the third time in the last two years.

That couldn't be a coincidence.

* * *

Lydia was slowly blinking under the lights as she was being wheeled through the hospital hallway on a gurney, with her mother at her side, tightly clutching her hand.

"You're going to be okay sweetheart," she cried at her.

"Mom," Lydia muttered weakly. "You, you can't say anything about what you saw."

She had seen her mother come in, right when Tracy had started attacking Kira. She must've seen Tracy with her claws and tail visible, as well as Kira using her sword and surrounded by foxfire. They couldn't afford to have her mother say anything.

Natalie tensed up. "All I saw…was some lunatic girl trying to kill everyone. You're going to be fine."

Lydia guessed that her mother was either in shock or was trying to live in denial. Either way, she had to make sure that her mom didn't say anything. "You can't say anything mom. You just can't."

Her mother's eyes started to light up a bit. "You're going to be fine," she repeated.

Following not too far away were Malia, Kira and Theo. They were soon stopped and told that they couldn't go any further and had to wait. Stiles came up to them a few moments later.

"Sorry guys, I had to make a call," he told them.

"Who were you calling?" Kira asked him.

"Parrish," he told her. He had stepped off a bit to tell the deputy what had happened to Lydia. He knew that the guy would want to be here.

"Lydia's mom is freaking out," said Theo.

"Her daughter was attacked by a girl with a lizard tail right in front of her," said Kira. She then turned to Stiles. "Do you think she'll say anything?"

"That's not what I'm worried about right now. Malia, tell me what happened down there."

"I told you already," she said to him.

"I know, I know," he told her quickly. "But, just walk me through it, step by step."

Malia breathed in deeply and then let it out. "Okay," she sighed. "I went after Tracy and found her with Lydia's mom. We fought a bit and I managed to pin her down. I had her, but then it looked like she was starting to get confused. I thought she was waking up from her night terror so I let her go and tried to talk to her. She asked me what was happening and I tried to tell her, but then she…"

"She what?" Stiles asked in concern.

Malia just stared at him. A haunted look came over her and she looked away.

"She tried to kill you," Theo mumbled, answering for her. "Didn't she?"

Malia looked over at him. His eyes were staring directly into hers and she found her nerves deflating a bit and she ended up nodding.

"What?" said Kira. "Wait, she didn't snap out of her night terror?"

"No," Stiles nodded. "Tracy was never in a night terror. The attacks at the transport, the hospital and at the station; she was awake for every one of them. She knew what she was doing the whole time." A dark look started coming over him as he clenched his hand into a tight fist at his side. Something that both Malia and Theo noticed.

"How'd you get away?" Kira asked her.

"Those guys, in the masks," Malia continued in a somewhat small voice. "They grabbed Tracy and killed her by sticking some kind of needle thing in her neck."

"How many of them were there?" Kira then asked.

"Three. And, I heard one of them say something. Something about her condition. It was...terminal? What does that mean?"

The others seemed as stumped as her, though Theo secretly knew what it was about.

Just walking into the hospital were Scott and Liam. Scott had helped get Tracy into Deaton's car and taken her to the clinic before he quickly headed out for the hospital. He had bumped into Liam at the front, who had been dropped off by Brett and Lori. He quickly started telling Scott what he and the others had found.

"Tracy was buried?" he gasped.

Liam nodded. "In a hole. Buried alive and crawled out. Then we found another hole."

More? Scott's eyes widened at the idea of another person like Tracy. "Who was buried in that one?"

Liam shook his head. "I don't know but I think we're gonna want to find out."

They made it to the ICU level in time to see his mother heading for the others.

"Scott," she said when she caught sight of them. She then took in the sight that they all were in. The tears in Scott, Stiles, Malia and Kira's clothes. Stiles had dried blood visible through his tear at the front. "Are you all alright? Scott? Stiles?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Scott told her gently. "We're okay."

"Not all of us," Stiles cut in. He made sure to give Scott a pointed look at that.

Scott almost take a step back in recoil. Stiles seemed to be mad at him so suddenly. Scott was about to ask what was wrong but Stiles had moved on to talk with his mother.

"How bad is it?" he asked her.

"Could have been worse," she sighed. "Theo, nice going on that tourniquet. You probably saved her life."

Theo just stared blankly back at her. He kept his gaze on her, feeling that Stiles was watching him, though he tried to act like he didn't notice. He had to be careful and not let any emotion slip out and be detected. Stiles' senses seemed to be on high right now. And it seemed he wasn't the only one. He could make out Liam also staring at him a bit hard at him from the corner of his eye. No doubt following Stiles' lead with his suspicions of him.

Scott noticed the look Stiles was giving the guy and stepped in. "Thanks Theo," he said in appreciation. Theo answered him a slight nod. He then sent Stiles a look of his own.

Stiles sighed and gave a sharp, curt nod. "Yeah," he said curtly.

Scott guessed that was as good as he was going to get right now and then turned back to his mother. "Mom, what's going to happen?"

"Well, we're prepping her for surgery right now. Are there any other supernatural details that I should know or do we just stitch her up and hope for the best?"

"It was the tail," Kira said to her. "Tracy got her with her tail, if that helps any."

Melissa sighed and nodded. "Okay," she said nervously before she took off.

"But it's not just Tracy anymore," Malia put out. "There's those guys, in the masks."

"Liam found out that Tracy was buried."

"Buried?" Kira mumbled.

"And, there was more than one hole," Liam finished.

Stiles narrowed his eyes. "So, there's more than one of them."

"Of what?" asked Liam. "What are they?"

They all just stood there silently. That was a very good question.

Lydia was in the operating room, with the surgeons around her getting the equipment ready for her operation.

"Okay Lydia," the head surgeon said through his mask. "I'm going to need you to relax and start counting backwards from ten, okay?"

She lightly nodded and then began slowly counting backwards as they started to give her some anesthesia to get her ready.

"Ten," she started. "Nine."

As Lydia began counting down, her senses began getting blurred from the drugs. The surgeon had her back to her but as he turned around, Lydia saw someone in a metal mask leering down at her. All the other doctors were in masks.

"Keep counting," The Surgeon said to her in a muffled metallic voice.

And Lydia did, before everything went dark.

* * *

Donovan was slowly coming too but quickly found himself strapped and restrained on a table. He tried to break free but he was quickly approached by the three he found in. They were surrounding him and looking down on him through their metal masks and Donovan started to freak out.

"What the hell are you doing?" he cried out at them.

They didn't answer. They just continued looking down at him, restrained him, before they began moving for some equipment nearby.

The Surgeon moved on in and grasped him by his cheeks in order to expose Donovan's teeth. He then turned to the other two. "His condition looks promising."

Donovan blinked. "What? What does that mean?" he gasped.

The doctors ignored him and continued with their work. The Pathologist went and grabbed a pair of thick pliers and the Geneticist moved to force Donovan to open his mouth. He shouted and tried to resist but his head was held on tight. The pliers soon went into his mouth and one of his teeth was violently yanked out of him. It fell to the floor as Donovan let out a muffled scream through his squeezed lips. One after the other, his teeth kept getting yanked out with spots of blood spewing out more and more with each passing one. Donovan's screams got louder as it kept going on until his last tooth was yanked out.

After that, his mouth was let go but Donovan still felt great pain. He felt pressure at his gums and screamed more as two sets of razor sharp, bloodstained, flesh tearing teeth grew in place of his old ones.

* * *

Scott and Kira were walking into his house together silently and solemnly. His mother had told all of them that it looked like Lydia's surgery had gone through with no problems and she would make a full recovery. Parrish had arrived and told all of them that they should go home and that he would stay and watch over Lydia.

As Kira walked in, she looked down at her hands, still stained with Lydia's blood. Because she couldn't stop Tracy from hurting Lydia and nearly killing Malia too. Scott reached over and grasped them, squeezing them comfortingly before they moved to stare at each other. As they did, the two of them leaned in and started to let their foreheads connect and their noses graze against each other's. The pressure of the day seemed to be catching up to them. By impulse, the two of them brought their lips together for a deep kiss, each seeking comfort in the other. Looking to feel something other than despair and tension. Scott felt his heart start to lighten a bit as he started to move his hand to cup Kira's cheek.

"Sorry to interrupt," they heard suddenly. They broke apart to find Deaton walking in. He set a bag on the table and then pulled out a jar that contained the talons from the werewolf that attacked them at the school. "A werewolf with the talons of an eagle. Possibly a shapeshifter known in eastern mythology as a Garuda." He then brought out another jar. "Tracy's claws, the unmistakable claws of a werewolf but…" He then pulled out a jar containing a piece of her tail. "A werewolf who also possesses the venom and scales of a kanima."

"What do you even call that?" Kira asked.

"Personally, I call it terrifying. But, at the moment, I'm more concerned with how Tracy was able to get across the mountain ash."

"I thought nothing supernatural can do that."

"Baring a few rare exceptions, as did I," he said, casting Scott a look. "So if Tracy was able to cross the mountain ash, and no one supernatural can do that."

"Tracy's not a supernatural," Scott finished.

"Exactly. If she wasn't born and she wasn't bitten, she had to have been made."

"Made?" gasped Kira.

"Someone is trying to _make_ supernatural creatures with non-supernatural means. And whoever they are, they're somehow managing to blur the lines between science and the supernatural."

Scott blinked before he thought of something. "But there's more. Liam said that he found another hole out in the woods."

"Burying them could be part of their process, a kind of incubation."

Kira was starting to get scared. The werewolf at the school and Tracy had come dangerously close to killing her friends. If there were more of them coming, she didn't want to think of what would happen. "What are we supposed to do?"

"What you've always done. Protect your friends. Protect each other."

Scott blinked. "What about someone like Tracy?" The people who were being taken and then turned into these…things. What about them?

Deaton sighed and shook his head. "I wish I could tell you. Hopefully, I'll have more answers soon. I'll be gone a few days."

Scott widened his eyes. "You're leaving?" Deaton couldn't leave them, not now.

"Just a few days," he quickly told him.

Kira let her eyes fall on the bottles with the claws and scales from these new…things. Who knew what the next ones would have on them? "How scared should we be?"

He cast a look upon them as well. It was plain to both Scott and Kira that he was scared himself, but was trying to not show just how scared he was. "I've lived in the world of the supernatural for a long time, but I'm still a doctor. Still a man of science. Something like this happens…it rattles the foundation of everything you believe. Something like this shakes you to the core."

"Something like what?"

"The rules. The rules have changed."

Kira had her answer. They should be _very_ scared.

* * *

After Parrish had sent them away, Stiles and Malia went back to his house and were in front of the his mystery board. Stiles started to add things to it like Tracy's name, as well as put a note of the three in masks. Malia however was looking at where Stiles had the question 'Who is the Desert Wolf' circled. Just that morning, Stiles had given her the first real lead into her. She had been prepared to pursue it but, after tonight, finding her mother didn't feel as important now. She looked over at Stiles and saw that he was trying to find room to fit the new things that they learned tonight but was lacking room. She reached for the eraser and cleaned out the part of her mother. When Stiles saw what she did, he put the pen down and reached over to pull her into a hug. Stiles held her tightly, just as tightly as she was holding him. Malia found some sniffles from her nose as she took in Stiles' scent as they kept hugging. Stiles picked his head up and moved to kiss her on the top of her head before letting his forehead rest against hers. This night was starting to catch up with them.

There was a beeping coming from Malia's phone and she reluctantly broke away to bring it out and see that she got a text. "It's my dad. He wants me to come home."

Stiles guessed that his dad called her dad and told him about what happened at the station. He nodded. "I'll take you."

Soon enough, they were in his jeep and were pulling up in front of the Tate House. Henry Tate was standing there in wait and the two of them could immediately smell his worry and concern. Malia almost leapt out of the car as she ran into her father's waiting arms. Stiles watched them both sadly for a bit as they just embraced. Henry then started to pull apart from her and Stiles heard a 'Thank You' coming from him with his hearing and he nodded back to the man. The two of them then headed into the house and Stiles let a deep, winded breath loose.

When he pulled the jeep away, he hadn't headed back home. Stiles had driven off for a deep part of the woods and had then run off into the trees. There was no destination in his mind, he didn't care where he was going or where he ended up. He just needed to run, to burn out his anger. Needless to say he was enraged from everything that had happened today. From him not being able to help his father to nearly losing both Malia and Lydia. He was full of rage. Rage at Tracy. Rage at himself. Rage at Scott. Just then, Stiles saw a downed log up ahead and he moved to leap over it, landing about thirty feet away on all fours before he continued sprinting off.

A shape suddenly jumped out from the trees and Stiles was barely able to stop before it could collide with him. The figure growled at him, and Stiles growled right back. Right now, he didn't expect a fight but he wouldn't turn one down right now. It seemed the other guy wanted one to because he charged for him. Stiles quickly caught the guy's attempt to claw at him, when he got a good look at the guy's face, illuminated by the partial moonlight and his eyes widened.

"Wilson?!" Stiles sputtered.

Wilson Grant's eyes widened in surprise. "Stiles?!" he panted back. He then pulled himself back and free from Stiles as he started to try and settle his breathing back down. "What the hell are you doing all the way out here at this time of night?!"

"I could ask you the same question!" he huffed out indignantly.

The two of them were soon sitting off the edge of a cliff, overlooking the lights of the town, as they began to talk once they'd settled down.

"Brett and Lori called me about what had happened," he told him lightly. "How they found those holes out in the woods and then I saw the news about the attack at the Sheriff's station. That's why I decided to come out here. I figured that if whatever came in and destroyed our pack's marker is behind that the girl and that werewolf with talons, then they or their other freaks might be roaming around here so I wanted to try and track them down."

Stiles nodded as he let himself draw spirals going left then right in the dirt, watching the town's lights in the distance. "So, you decided to just up and attack any poor bastard you come across as you search?" he asked, condescendingly.

Wilson narrowed his eyes, annoyed but quickly shook it away. "About a half hour ago, I caught someone lurking around in the woods near Satomi's house. I called out at them and they immediately took off, and they were fast."

"A spy?"

"That would be my guess. I chased them to around here. I then felt something moving through the trees, fast."

"So you thought I was the one you were after," Stiles finished for him. "But, didn't you pick up my scent?"

Wilson's eyes hardened a bit. "Stiles, I couldn't pick up your scent because it was being overpowered."

Stiles leaned back a bit. "Overpowered?"

"By rage. A lot of it. So much that I couldn't read your scent. That's why I was ready for a fight." Stiles then looked away from him. "Stiles, what's wrong?" Stiles just stared out into the lights, silently. "You know, over these last couple of months, I've noticed an interesting difference between you and Liam." Stiles gave him a sidelook. One that Wilson easily interpreted. "Your anger," he answered. "Liam has trouble controlling his anger and he can feel it in extreme and uncontrollable levels. But, it's all in the moment. It comes quickly and goes almost as fast because he lets it out. With you Stiles, your anger is gradual and you have a good deal of control over it. Too much control. You tend to push it down and you just add more anger to it, little by little over time. It builds and starts to burn you up from the inside. If you keep holding it in and don't let any of it out then eventually you'll explode. And from what I felt earlier, you are close to going nuclear. You need help."

Stiles tightened his jaw and moved his eyes away to keep him from looking at Wilson. "No one can help me," he said almost to himself.

Wilson settled back a bit and he looked out at their shared view. "Maybe I can help," he said after a moment. "I can be an impartial listener, ask anyone. Besides, who might understand better than a fellow Second?"

That made Stiles break composure and look at him. Stiles stared at Wilson's calm face and he sighed. Soon, Stiles started speaking, and when he did, he found he couldn't stop. He talked about everything that had happened since Senior Scribe. The werewolf with talons' attack, his ignored suspicions about Theo, him unable to handle pulling pain from his father, and everything that happened with Tracy. All of it coupled with his worries about his life with his friends after high school and his increased number of sleepless nights. When Stiles was finished, he found himself breathing hard and was wiping some tears that had swelled up in the corners of his eyes. During the whole thing, Wilson didn't say a word. He just sat there and let Stiles talk. Only once Stiles started to settle back down did he speak.

"Whoa...that's quite buckload of crap you're pushing." That made Stiles let out a cross between a laugh and a cough. But Wilson's face fell a bit as he let himself become serious. "First, let me just say that you're probably being too hard on yourself. I know about what you went through last year and you can't expect yourself to just bounce back. Hell, I'd say it's a miracle you're at where you are now. Be more patient with yourself Stiles. We might be werewolves, but we're still only human."

Stiles let his gaze drop a bit at that. Wilson kept going.

"As for what happened today. I can see how that might make you angry at not only her, but with Scott as well. He's not wrong to show compassion for these people."

"Yeah," Stiles cut in. "But Scott seems more upset about happened to Tracy then what happened to Lydia or Malia. He told Malia to save Tracy and nothing about being careful. She was almost killed because she listened-

Wilson quickly held his palm up. "You didn't let me finish," he abruptly said to him. "While Scott's not wrong to show them compassion, he has to be careful to not give out more than he's keeping for his own pack. Saving people like Tracy is a noble and honorable thing, but not if it comes at the expense of his friends." Now it was Wilson who was dropping his gaze. "He's an Alpha, and an Alpha's priority and concern should be to the pack first. To their loved ones, their territory and those in their charge. Everything else comes second."

"Is it that way with Satomi?" Stiles asked him lightly.

A far off expression came over Wilson. "Satomi cares about people and she tries to have us lead good and peaceful lives. She uses buddhism to help us hone ourselves in and do that. But, that doesn't mean she's a pacifist. If someone tries to hurt her or any of her betas, if that's what it takes she will show no mercy. At her core, she's a warrior and I have the greatest respect for her. You know, most samurai were buddhists too and they are among the most greatest and feared warriors of all time. Words and open arms can only go so far, and I've seen times where that wasn't too far at all. After all, what good is making peace if you don't fight to keep it?"

"Not much I guess," mumbled Stiles.

Wilson shook his head in agreement. "How are you feeling now?"

Stiles blinked a bit before he shrugged. "A little bit better, I guess. Thanks Wilson."

He nodded. Stiles started to move to get back up but Wilson stopped him.

"One last thing, this Theo kid you told me about. I don't think you're wrong to be suspicious of him."

"Yeah?"

Wilson narrowed his eyes. "Based on what you said, there are things about him that don't add up. Little things. Like, his story about coming here. There's already some issues with that. First off, his parents. They take him and leave this town to deal with the death of his sister, but they move back because he wants to be in Scott's pack. Do they even know about him? And even if they did, would they really be willing to just drop everything in their lives and come right back here? Where were they before they came back to Beacon Hills anyway?"

"Uh, I think it was around Detroit."

"And they moved halfway across the country just so Theo could have a chance to be in Scott's pack? Then there's the issue of his control. He claims the alpha who turned him was killed before he could bring him into his pack, yet he seems to have seasoned control over his abilities and himself? How did he get so good? Also, you accuse him of lying and having imposters for parents, right after he leaves flowers for his sister at that, but he just smiles and jokes around about it? How could someone, a teenager no less, not get upset? Unless, they were trying to hide something. Honestly, I can go on about a dozen other things I see off about this kid."

Stiles had a wide smile creeping on his face. It seemed that there was someone ready to believe him about Theo without him having to try so hard. "So, what do think I should do?"

"My advice, focus on the little things. His parents, names, places, hobbies, memories, things like that. Call him out on them, as often as they come up. He might be able to talk his way out of them but, if he's guilty, he won't be able to keep it up forever. Having to answer on the spot each time, a liar won't be able to constantly keep track, his stories and explanations will start to cross or contradict each other so file each one of them away. Eventually, they'll slip and you can catch them."

Stiles eyebrows rose. "That's not bad."

"Hey, it works when I'm dealing with the teenagers I catch trying to sneak around and make trouble at work." Wilson then looked down at his watch. "Alright, that's enough for tonight. It's a school night and you're out way too late as it is."

Stiles then grunted as he pulled himself to his feet. "And you? Technically it's a school night for you too." He was a security guard at a school.

He shrugged. "I got the afternoon shift. I can sleep in a little longer than you. But you, you need all the sleep you can get. Sleep can help out with your anger too and not getting enough will help burn you out."

As they started to head off, they were being unknowingly watched and spied on from a distance by Courtney. It had been her that Wilson had been pursuing but had been thrown off with Stiles' arrival. She stayed back and had listened in on everything they had talked about. As she rubbed her long and razor sharp needle claws together, she waited until they were far enough away so she could move without being detected. She had to get to Theo and warn him about these two.

* * *

Lydia was starting to open her eyes and she found herself lying on a bed, though she quickly felt she wasn't in her room. She then saw it was a hospital room and the events of the station quickly came back to her. She turned around and saw the sun peeking through the nearby window. She tried to get up, but found she didn't have the strength. She also noticed some sound, and turned to see a tv was on. At the foot of her bed was Jordan and when she started to move, he turned around to look at her.

"What are you doing here?"

He smiled gently at her. "Officially, I'm here to gather an eyewitness testimony. Unofficially, I'm trying to find something to watch but the only thing that comes in is this kung fu movie," he smiled a bit deeper at her. "You like kung fu movies?"

She let herself relax a bit. "How long have you been here?"

"Stiles called me after you were brought in here. I've been in here since you were cleared out of surgery."

"All night?" she mumbled.

He nodded. "Cleared it with my Sheriff. Witness protection detail."

"Protection," she mumbled almost to herself. She let herself look around the room and realized that this was the second time in two years that she'd been sent to the hospital. Her eyes then went up to the fighting on the screen. "You know how to do that?" She knew that Jordan had been in the military before coming to Beacon Hills.

He nodded. "I know a little Jiu-Jitsu. In the army they taught us CQC, Close Quarters Combat."

"Can you teach me?"

He was taken aback. "You want to learn Jiu-Jitsu? Hand to Hand?"

"I want to learn how to fight." Lately, it seemed that she was the only one among her friends that wasn't. All of them, Scott, Stiles, Kira, Malia, Liam, Jordan…they all were fighting to keep themselves and others safe. Keeping her safe. Last night, she could only stand around while Kira fought to protect them. All she seemed to do was scream or take them head first into death. She was tired of having to stand back while everyone around her fought. "No, I _need_ to learn," she said assuredly.

Jordan could see the determination swelling up in her eyes. He didn't know how but he could read perfectly well what was going on in her mind. She wanted to protect herself, help protect others, instead of letting herself be protected all the time. He nodded his head. "Yeah…I can teach you." His lips curved to smile a bit.

She smiled lightly back at him.

* * *

Scott was sitting with Kira in AP Biology, trying hard not to stare at Lydia's empty seat and dwell on the fact that she was still lying in the hospital. As everyone was copying down the notes that were being placed on the board, Scott was making a list of all the strange aspects found in each of these new shapeshifters, trying to find some way to make sense of them all. A werewolf with harpy eagle talons and a werewolf with a kanima's venom and tail. Not only that, but it seemed that Tracy was immune to mountain ash, which means that others like her were too. But, what were they?

"If 99.9% of our DNA sequence is the same as other humans, what could account for the missing 0.1% difference?" their teacher, Ms. Ramsey, asked out to the class after finishing the last of her notes. She looked out to the room before choosing her student when no one was raising their hand. "Theo?"

Theo looked up from his book. "Um, nucleotides."

"That's right," she said approvingly.

Kira let her eyes fall on the list that Scott was making and she had a hunch about how they could find a connection. She raised her hand.

"Yes Kira?" Ms. Ramsey asked.

"Can there be more than one species in the same DNA?"

"No, but there can be multiple sets of DNA in the same individual. We call that a Chimera. Anyone know where that term comes from?" she asked the room at large. "Sydney," she said to the student that raised her hand.

"Greek Mythology. It's a lion with a goat coming out of its back and a tail that has the head of a snake."

"That's right Sydney. Do you want to read us the full Wikipedia entry off your phone?" she said disapprovingly, as she stared at the phone in her hand. Sydney's face fell and she put her phone away.

At that, Scott wrote that term down. Chimera. Multiple sets of animal features within the same shapeshifter. It seemed as these things now had a name.

Ms. Ramsey continued. "But, that does get us into the next topic of mutation. As you know from the reading, DNA is a fragile molecule. Isn't it Scott?" That made Scott finally pull his head out from his notebook to face her. "Or did you miss last nights assigned reading?" she asked, her expression and tone a mix of disapproving and scolding.

"Kind of," he mumbled.

"Kind of, or yes?" she said, in the same tone.

"Mostly yes," he said, nodding his head down a bit. With everything that happened yesterday, he had put not just the reading, but all of his school work out of his mind.

"Well, thank you for yet another helpful transition in topic." She stared at him for a moment before she moved to her desk and pick up a small stack of papers. "Drop forms," she said, holding them up for everyone to see. "All those now acutely aware that they do not belong in this class, you should fill one out." She then went off to two different students, ones she felt were lost causes, and placed one right in front of them before heading back up to the front. "The rest will be on my desk." She then slammed them on there before the bell rang.

Everyone started to get up and pack their stuff. Kira and Theo were already heading out the door but Scott hung back. He was looking at the stack of drop forms. He stared at them for a second before he reached for one. It's only been two weeks and he was already missing out on doing readings and feeling lost with more than half the course work. With everything going on, it'll be a miracle if he caught up, let alone score high final marks. And it'll no doubt get worse. He sighed at the thought. Maybe he didn't belong in this class after all. He then felt a tingle and looked over to see that Ms. Ramsey was looking right at him with that same disapproving look as before. He quickly threw the form in his bag and then left the room to see that both Kira and Theo were waiting for him.

"It's a Chimera," he said to them.

Ramsey had watched as Scott headed out and sighed before shaking her head in disappointment. She reached over to grab her cell phone. She began sending a text, saying that they needed to talk after school, about Scott.

* * *

At the station, Noah was with Deputy Clark, watching the security footage of the holding cells. Donovan was acting frantic before he seemed to freeze up in the camera's direction, then there was static and the picture went gray.

"Wait for it," Clark said as they kept staring.

A few frames later, the picture cleared up, but the cell was empty.

"Well, that's a pretty convenient time for a camera malfunction," he said dryly.

"Very," Clark said before she closed the laptop and then started to walk off.

But Noah stopped her. "Hey, isn't it your day off?"

Clark turned to look back at him. "I stood there, listening to that kid threaten your life. In front of your own son. I'm not taking time off until he's caught."

Noah both admired and appreciated Clark's loyalty. If he wasn't mistaken, she had a younger sister who went to Beacon Hills High along with his son. He remembered when she first transferred to his department over a year ago. She seemed to always linger in the background but had really stepped up in the last six months, ever since Haigh had tried to kill Parrish.

But he didn't think Donovan was the threat right now. Not with these strange werewolves with long talons and serpent tails popping up.

He just sighed. "Look, wherever Donovan is, I'm pretty sure that he's running as far away as possible, as fast as he can. I'll be fine, don't worry. Now go, get out of here."

"Sheriff." Clark nodded before she left the Sheriff's office.

Noah sighed as he leaned back in his chair. He wished he could believe what he just told Clark, he really did.

* * *

Donovan was stuck in that chair, still strapped and bound by his wrists and head. His lips and shirt still stained with blood as his teeth still felt sharp under his tongue. Off to the side stood Theo, watching him. It was a shame that Tracy was taken out when she was. Her being part Kanima, he still could've used that but it wasn't his call to make. It didn't matter though, in the end, she did what he needed her to do. Her actions had not only made an opening for Scott to start letting him in, but had also made his mother and girlfriend start trusting him. Lydia would likely also start trusting him since he did help save her life. That was half of his pack right there.

The other half of the pack though, still were an issue for him. Tracy's attack hadn't distracted or dampen Stiles' instincts to distrust him. He was still watching him as closely as ever and Theo had to stay on his toes and not give Stiles an inch. Malia and Liam, they were leaning towards Stiles' side, with Malia keeping her distance around him and Liam sharing a bit in Stiles' distrust of him. Not only that, but it seemed that his father, the Sheriff, was starting to get a little wary of him, if his look back at the station was anything to go by. And, from what Courtney had just told him, Stiles was getting yet another werewolf to stick his nose in on his business. A Second from another pack at that. This couldn't go on. If Theo's plan was to work, he would have to have Stiles...dealt with. That was where Donovan could come in. A guy who was part werewolf, part wendigo, with a strong grudge against the Sheriff, he could be just what he needs.

Suddenly, Donovan stopped wriggling in the chair and seemed to be trying to look out, like he knew he wasn't alone. Theo rose his eyebrows appreciatively. He hadn't given any obvious signs but it looked like Donovan was quickly starting to adapt to his new hyper senses after being made into a Chimera. Chimera…that was what Scott decided to call them. Theo had to admit, he kind of liked the name. It was far better than being referred to as 'subjects' by the Doctors.

Theo decided to make himself known and started walking to him. "You're lucky they're letting me talk to you. They normally don't do that. They're not giving me much time either. See…these guys, they believe in numbers. And their results. They weigh the pros and cons and decided pretty quick-"

"Decide what?" Donovan spat in.

"Whether or not you die." He got square in Donovan's line of sight and held up the folder he was holding. "By the way, this is your psych evaluation for when you applied to be a sheriff's deputy." He then started to read it aloud. "Multiphasic Personality Inventory. You know what that is?" Donovan answered by trying to pull harder against his restraints. Theo smirked at him. "It's a test, that assesses abnormal behavior. It's supposed to be able to tell when you're lying or being defensive…or if you're a total psycho."

"Shut up," Donovan growled, full on glaring at him.

But Theo didn't lose his smug poise. "Your results were pretty disappointing Donovan. You scored high on the Psychopathic Deviate scale." Donovan tried again to break free from the restraints and Theo smiled and amusingly smacked the folder against his chest. "And that, that's bad. I'm not even going to get into your Anger Expression Inventory. Just this one, small, part here at the end. 'Not Suitable For Law Enforcement'." He then smirked at Donovan's pissed off look and tossed the file away. "Then to top it all off, Stilinski sends you to prison for 3-5 and no doubt will get you more since you've escaped police custody, twice. That's gotta suck, right?"

Donovan tried to yank himself free again, to no avail. "Let me go," he hissed heatedly.

Theo leans in close to him and lets his head go from the strap but keeps the rest of him still bound. "You know, you've actually been given a real gift here Donovan. You've been made stronger, faster, and..." He then reached over for a small mirror and held it up for Donovan to see his new fangs. "You can rip people apart with those new pearly whites of yours." He then watched as Donovan's eyes sparked up at the sight of them. With an idea to match. "Now, I already know what you're thinking. You want to go and find Stilinski. Use your newfound gifts and tear him to pieces and have your revenge, am I right?" Donovan didn't say anything but him catching Theo's eye was answer enough. "I get it, but you see, that would be a waste. The thing about physical pain Donovan, as much as it hurts, over time it fades. But emotional pain, that's the kind that lasts. You want to cause Stilinski everlasting pain, then you don't go after him. You go after who he loves. The most important person in his life.

"Stiles," said Donovan after a moment, his fangs grinding against each other at the end. The smartass bastard who mocked him in front of everyone and who Stilinski was counting the days before seeing him as the cop Donovan himself would never become now.

Theo widened his smirk as he detected the bloodlust bringing up in him. "But, I should warn you Donovan that it's not going to be as easy as you might think. You see, Stiles, he has 'gifts' of his own. If you're going to bring him down, you'll need a bit of an edge. And I know just how and where you can get it from."

* * *

Wilson Grant was getting out of his car, dressed in his school security uniform, heading into Devenford Prep. On the other side of the parking lot, he was being watched by Courtney, who had a hard, predatory expression on her face.

* * *

A/N: Seems like a lot of wheels are turning behind the scenes for our favorite pack of teen wolves. Who was Ms. Ramsey reporting on Scott to? I was disappointed that we didn't see more of that teacher. I thought her character had potential. When I first saw her, how she bluntly and critically responded to Scott in the classroom, I thought she might be the new Harris or something. Well, that's what I'm going to make her. She'll be giving Scott no mercy like Harris gave Stiles no mercy. Yet, there is more to her than meets the eye. It's not surprising, new teachers in that high school seem to always carry some kind of trouble or share a connection to what's going on.


	11. Condition Terminal part 2

Chapter 10: Condition Terminal part 2

Stiles splashed cold water on his face for almost a full minute after he had gotten up and was now looking at himself in the mirror. Apparently, even werewolves could still get bags under their eyes though it was somewhat less noticeable now. After his talk with Wilson last night, he had come back home but hadn't gone straight to bed. He had to work on some readings and homework left over that he had to finish. It must've been maybe past 5am by the time he was done. As grateful as he was that he didn't have that stuff to worry about, he still was resentful towards his alarm clock waking him up two hours later.

He made his way to the cabinets in his kitchen and brought out the jar of Rishi that he had gotten from Satomi. When he drank the first sip of the tea, Stiles let himself expel a great puff of air as he could feel some relief spreading through him. He moved up for his dad's room and knocked but didn't detect his father inside. He opened the door and saw that his father's bed looked like it hadn't been slept in at all. He could only guess his dad was out heading the search for Donovan. Stiles couldn't believe the psycho escaped, because of Tracy, again. His father would be feeling pressure to find him as Donovan had slipped away two times in 24 hours. Maybe he should bring up trying to track Donovan down for his dad like Scott had.

He saw that his father had brought some papers from work and left them on his desk but they were strewn about on his desk. He thought it was a bit of a mess so he decided to go and tidy it up a bit for him. He saw that some were files from the station and a few bits of mail too. He stacked the files in one pile and the mail in another until he got to a large envelope that didn't have his father's name, but his own. It was stamped with a seal belonging to Georgetown University. He opened it and took out one of the papers inside to see it was a letter. As he read it, Stiles' heart dropped.

* * *

Wilson Grant was dressed in his full security uniform as he walked the length of the parking lot to get into the main school building of Devenford Prep. There were a few students out and about, just relaxing and enjoying a free period that they had and a few threw him a hello as he passed by, which he returned though not with much heart. It had been a long night with no leads after he had bid Stiles a good night. Whoever had been skulking around, had left no trail for him to pick up and was in the wind. Not to mention that he had been a little worried about the young Second from the McCall Pack for the rest of the night. He might need to call on Brett and Lori so he could speak with them before school went out today.

When he made it to the front doors, he stopped for a moment as he suddenly felt a stir in the air. It was like he could feel that something was close by. He turned around to look out in the direction of the parking lot but he saw nothing but parked cars and a handful of students. Yet, Wilson felt that something wasn't right around there as his eyes scanned the area. But he was brought out of it when the doors opened and nearly hit him as two students walked out.

"Sorry," one of them said to him.

"Not a problem," he told them with a small smile. He spared the parking lot a final quick look before he headed on inside.

A moment after he went in, a car parked off towards the middle of the lot had both of its front doors open. The chimera Courtney and Theo stepped out as they looked at the doors Wilson had stepped into.

"So, what do you think?" she asked him.

Theo sighed. "You were right. He is going to be a problem. Luckily, I have a way of making him part of the solution."

"How?" she asked looking over at him.

He smiled as he kept staring at the building. "I think its time to introduce you to a new friend of mine."

* * *

Stiles and Malia walked through the doors of the hospital and they headed for the elevators to get to the ICU. Malia had met up with Stiles when he arrived at school and he told her that he would be heading for the hospital to check on Lydia during his free period. Malia offered to come along with him. They were the only two in the elevator and Stiles let out a deep winded breath after he hit the button.

"Are you okay?" Malia asked him.

He blinked as he turned to her. "Yeah, fine. Why?"

"You smell anxious." Stiles gave her a look. "More than usual," she quickly added. "And you didn't say a word the whole ride over."

"I've just got a lot on my mind," he muttered almost under his breath.

"About what?"

The elevator stopped as they got to their floor.

He shook his head. "It's nothing." He then stepped out.

Malia stared after him for a moment as she easily tell that he lied. She couldn't help but think back to what her dad had talked about with her early that morning. But she stepped out of the elevator and followed after him.

The clerk looked up at them as they came over. "May I help you?" she asked them.

"We're to see Lydia Martin," Stiles told her.

"And you two are-?"

"Friends," Malia muttered.

But she shook her head. "I'm sorry, but you can't see her. She had left surgery less than 12 hours ago and only family are allowed to see her."

Stiles heavily sighed out. "Can you tell us how she is?"

"Yeah, is she okay?" Malia asked her.

"She's resting."

Stiles wasn't happy with that answer and pressed on. "But how is she? Is she okay? Is there nothing more you can tell us?"

"Please, calm down," she said to Stiles sharply.

"Is something wrong here?"

They looked over and saw that Parrish was coming over. He had been with Lydia but he had heard some commotion and saw that it was Stiles and Malia.

"You're here?" Stiles said in surprise.

"I stayed to watch over Lydia." Jordan looked over at the nurse. "It's okay. I'll take care of them."

She nodded as she moved back behind her desk leaving the three standing in the middle of the hall.

"How's Lydia?" Stiles asked.

"She woke up earlier this morning but went back to sleep over half an hour ago. That operation took a lot out of her but she'll be okay."

Stiles sighed in relief and Malia nodded.

"When can we see her?" she asked him.

"And how long is she going to stay here?" Stiles asked after.

Jordan moved his hands to his hips. "Uh, they're not going to let anyone outside her mother see her until probably sometime tomorrow afternoon. Lydia's going to be kept in observation for about a day as she takes some medication and gets her strength back but she shouldn't be here long. Maybe by Sunday afternoon or evening, she'll be let go. You'll definitely see her in school by Monday." He then leaned in closer to them. "You guys find out anything about what is going on around here yet?"

Stiles narrowed his eyes a bit. "That's what we were hoping to talk with Lydia about. We're going to meet with Scott and Kira to try to find out just what happened to Tracy and that guy you found that attacked us at the school. But, we're going to need the Bestiary."

"Oh, well I know that Lydia keeps it on the bookshelf by the desk in her room. She always pulls it out of there whenever we met up to do our research."

"Thanks Parrish. And, stay with her, okay?"

He nodded to him. "Yeah, I got it. Just go and find out what everything you can. If Lydia wakes up again, I'll tell her you two dropped by."

Stiles and Malia then said bye to him as they moved to leave the hospital. Jordan decided to go off to grab himself a cup of coffee before returning to Lydia's room, when his eyes fell upon a sign on the wall. It was one that pointed the way to the morgue. He found himself staring off in its direction for a moment before he blinked and continued on his way.

* * *

Scott and Kira were sitting together in the library, a form in between them. The form that Scott had taken from Ms. Ramsey that Scott's eyes were locked on.

"Are you sure you really want to do this?" Kira asked him. "I mean, I know what being in that class meant to you."

He kept his eyes on the form. "I don't _want_ to, but I don't think I have any other choice."

Scott pulled the form closer to him and pulled out his pen. He looked at the form's heading one more time before he moved to begin filling it out. Kira looked sadly at him as he began writing. However, Scott only got as far as his name when he caught sight of Malia heading for them.

"Hey guys," she said before lifting up the book in her arms. "I got it."

"Great," Scott sighed. But he narrowed his eyes as it seemed that she had come alone. "Where's Stiles?"

"Oh, some girl named Gwen came up with two others and asked if he could help see if they might have a shot in getting on the team. They said they tried to ask you but you never showed up."

"Oh…right," Scott said, shutting his eyes in irritation.

Scott remembered being approached by Gwen and a handful of sophomores and freshmen, asking about the team last week. They had asked if they could show him what they could do and see if they would have a chance to be on the team. Since a few had graduated, there were now openings for first and second line. Scott had told them to gather at the lacrosse field after school and he would give them a little practice tryout. But he'd had gotten distracted with everything that happened with Liam, Mason and the wolf, along with Stiles and his 'event scars', that he had gone straight to Deaton after school and forgotten all about the meeting. Sad to say, Scott just now remembered it at all.

"Well, Stiles went with them to the lacrosse field to help them. Said he would meet back here a little later."

Scott could see why they would go to Stiles. He was co-captain now. Though, Scott wondered if he was still upset after last night. After what happened with both Malia and Lydia, he could understand. Yet Stiles seemed especially mad with him for some reason but Scott couldn't understand why.

"Did he manage to see Lydia?" he asked.

"I went with him to the hospital but they wouldn't let us see her. Something about only letting her family in…but, we ran into Parrish. He told us she's awake, a little sore but she'll be okay. She'll be out of the hospital tomorrow night, probably."

Both Scott and Kira sighed in relief.

His eyes then flew to the book she was holding. "That the bestiary?"

Malia went and put the book down right in front of them. Scott opened it to where the word Bestiary was written elegantly.

Kira looked at the pages where Lydia had writing everything she had translated from the Argent's thumb drive bestiary. "Anything in here about half werewolves, half kanimas?" she asked when they got to an entry about Berserkers.

"The Chimera," Scott corrected her.

Malia narrowed her eyes. "What? What's that?"

"A Chimera, it's a creature made of incongruous parts."

Malia narrowed her eyes at her, even more lost than before.

Kira noticed. "It means that they have parts of different creatures mixed together."

"Oh, that sounds…terrifying," she muttered, having flashbacks with Tracy having werewolf teeth and a lizard tail. "So, Tracy is a Chimera."

"Not just Tracy," said Scott. "Liam said that he found two more burial sites. That means that Tracy is not the only one."

"So who's the other chimera?" Kira asked him.

"Scott shrugged. "I don't know. It could be anyone."

"And they're getting buried?" asked Malia. "Why?"

"Deaton thinks it's a part of the process. It's their way of turning them."

Malia jaw tightened a bit. "The people in masks."

* * *

When the early tryout was over, Stiles had come into the library to find that the others were already hard at work trying to find more information about these 'chimeras'. He had to admit that Scott found the perfect name for these new 'things' that were popping up. Scott and Kira updated him on what Deaton had told them. It freaked him out to know that somebody, the three in masks that Malia ran into, were going all mad scientist and making supernatural creatures by mixing animal and creature parts together. Stiles also gave Scott the list of people that tried out who he thought had been good. Scott pocketed it and said he would look at them later and they went to work.

Stiles had at least four myth and legend books open in front of him, above the bestiary. He already knew a bit about creatures made from multiple animals from his online gaming days. The sphinx, griffin, basilisk, manticore, cockatrice, gorgon and hippogriff coming to him off the bat. None of them were sure if any of these creatures really did exist but given that many thought things like werewolves or kitsunes didn't exist, they couldn't be written off. Stiles had to wonder what these men in masks were up to. Why 'make' creatures out of random people and set them loose? What were they up to? Were they more guys who were after him and his friends, or were they just playing Dr. Frankenstein for the hell of it?

Eventually Scott and Kira had to leave to go home and Stiles was left alone with Malia, as they decided to try and keep looking. As the sun went down, Stiles found his eyes were starting to get heavy and he was finding himself feeling weary. It looked like the last two days were starting to catch up with him. A few times, he blinked hard and shook his head to stay focused but he eventually just tapped out and was snoring over the bestiary.

Malia was not really reading anything but letting her mind wander as she was absentmindedly clicking her pen. She was beginning to recall her near death experience with Tracy, and what happened when those three masked men showed up and killed her. As she clicked the pen again, she saw how that one had stuck the syringe into Tracy's neck and pumped her full of something that made her bleed gray goo from her mouth. Malia blinked and put the pen down. She didn't feel like being here anymore.

"Hey," she said, grabbing her bag. "I'm going to take off." Stiles mumbled at her but didn't move. "Stiles, wake up and go home. I'll meet you there in a bit." He answered with another mumble but still didn't move.

Malia began head down the stairs for the main door. She saw that there were no other students left in there. The only other people in the library were the librarian and two men setting up a scaffold. They were moving some equipment and tools on the top of it. Malia left the room but nearly bumped into someone as she turned the corner.

"Sorry," she mumbled before she headed off.

That person was Ms. Ramsey. She took a moment to look at Malia heading off before she moved into the library. She found the librarian at the desk. She moved and reached into her bag as she went and put a book out onto the desk in from of her.

"I'm done with this one," she told her.

The librarian looked down and saw that it was a romance novel. "Oh, I've read that one. You like it?"

"Better than my last relationship," Ramsey joked.

The librarian cracked an amused chuckle. "You're here late," she said, moving to place the book in her return rack.

"Yeah, had some papers I needed to grade. What about you? I'm surprised to see you still here on a Friday night."

"There were still some students with rare and sensitive study material and I'm waiting to get it back."

She then remembered Malia. "Yeah, I just saw one leave a moment ago."

"But there's still one more left. And, he still has them. So I can't leave until I get them back to lock them back up."

"Oh, well at least he's dedicated," she said, pointing out the silver lining. Too often Ramsey had seen students who only put in the bare minimum needed to just get by or just give up the moment they hit a wall.

"To what though? Fantasy? The study material checked out was on mythology and fantasy lore."

She rose her eyes up at that. "Really?"

Ramsey then took up the stairs to see who the student was and found that it was Stiles Stilinski. He had a handful of those books out on the table in front of him but it looked like he was sound asleep, and drooling. Ramsey moved to carefully grab the book that he was sleeping over without waking him. She had heard about his situation and figured this was most likely the most sleep he was getting this week so she decided to let him have it but moved to start collecting the books so the librarian wouldn't get impatient and wake him. He was groaning as she slipped the book from under him, stirred a bit, but kept his eyes shut. She saw that it was a bestiary and it was open to an entry about Wendigos. It wasn't one of the school's so she left it at the side and moved to gather up the other ones.

She set the bestiary down but froze when she noticed something. On the desk, there were scratches. They seemed pretty recent and they were next to Stiles' hand, most likely done by his nails, his _other_ nails, in his sleep. But, she noticed that they seemed to form a shape and Ramsey took a step back and saw that it was meshed double spiral. She took out her phone and snapped a quick picture. Her eyes then fell on one of the books that was opened to the legend of the Beast of Gevaudan. She sighed as she looked from the book to the boy. Ramsey then grabbed it and the other library texts and headed off for the front desk.

"Here you go," she said, handing them over. "It looks like he was pretty much done with these. He might still be a while but it looks like you can go."

"Thank you," the librarian said, gratefully as she moved to go and put the books away in the back room.

Ramsey then moved to take her leave. She already had a scheduled talk with someone about Scott McCall. It looked like he wasn't the only one that she had to talk seriously about now.

* * *

Mason had come up to Liam and asked him if he could come with him to a club called Sinema that night. Apparently it was a place that was starting to get pretty popular around town. After everything that happened last night, Mason felt that Liam could use a little fun to help take his mind off of freaky supernatural hybrids coming out and attacking them. Though, it was clear that Liam was still nervous as he was checking his phone every other minute for any news from the others.

"Can you put your phone away for five minutes? Scott can howl if he needs you."

Liam let out a heated sigh, but went to pocket his phone. "I just feel I should be doing something," he told him.

Scott, Stiles and the others were all out trying to find out more about these things, and the people in masks that Malia saw. Lydia was in the hospital. Yet, here he was, going to a club.

"You are," Mason told him. "You're my wingman tonight. And considering the current state of my dating life, I need a wingman, co-pilot and a really hot flight attendant."

"Yeah, well I'm definitely not your hot flight attendant."

Mason shrugged. "Okay, yeah, my choices are somewhat limited. At least you have someone who's interested."

Liam rose his eyebrows at him. "What are you talking about?"

Mason smirked at him. "For real, you haven't noticed?"

"Noticed what?"

Mason let his eyes roll back and shook his head at how dense his friend was. Lori clearly had eyes for Liam, it was so obvious not just to him but her brother as well. But it looked like Liam was clueless.

"Oh my god. You know what, let's just go in and have fun. I could go and lose myself in a few guys, and you could go relax a bit and get drunk."

"Yeah, werewolves can't get drunk Mase."

That made his eyes widen. "For real? Wow dude, that really…sucks. But you know what, it doesn't matter. Know why? Because we're going to go in there and have a good time anyway," he said suggestively. "Both of us."

Liam blinked as Mason took off. "Yeah, right," he mumbled before following after him.

The doors opened and Hayden suddenly walked out but stopped at the sight of them. Liam sighed out heatedly as he saw her quickly turn her head to avoid looking at him.

Hayden threw Mason an annoyed look. "I said I'd let you in. Not him."

"You said I could bring a plus one," Mason argued.

"I didn't say plus Liam."

Liam had been silent through the whole thing but he then broke it. "I'm his flight attendant."

Hayden narrowed her eyes at him. "What?"

He blinked. "Wingman," he quickly corrected.

Before anything could be said, someone else started to peek out through the door. They saw that it was Lori.

"Hey Liam," she said at him with a small smile. "Thought I heard your voice out here."

Liam's lip curved up a bit. "Hey Lori," he said back to her pleasantly.

Hayden narrowed her eyes at that and she looked even more annoyed and ticked off, seeing Liam smiling at Lori. Mason noticed it and was fighting really hard not to laugh or smirk at this whole thing. But, he did clear his throat a little louder than necessary to snap everyone out of this.

"And Mason, hey," Lori said, blinking herself back into focus. "You guys made it. Trust me, you're going to love this place."

"He's not coming in," Hayden said, looking pointedly at Liam.

"What? Why not, what's wrong?"

"Hayden, come on," Mason said to her.

"Not him," she said stiffly.

"Why not?" Lori asked more firmly, making Hayden glare a bit at her.

Liam sighed. "Look, guys, just stop. I don't want any trouble. I can just leave."

Before Hayden could throw back a retort, someone else came at the door. The club owner.

"Hey what is going on out here? Hayden?" the man asked her. He then looked at the boys. "These two giving you trouble?"

Liam, Mason and Lori looked over at her as Hayden's tightened her jaw for a moment.

Lori was the first to talk. "No, we're all just talking. Hayden was just surprised because my brother and I had invited these two and they go to school with her."

"That right Hayden?" the man asked her pointedly.

She was silent for a moment before she sighed and let a small smile loose. "Yeah. I was just a little surprised. Didn't think Liam could have that many friends," she said with barely concealed sarcasm.

Liam gave her a not so subtle roll of his eyes, one that made Lori's lips thin out. Mason tried to avoid looking at any of them. The tension here was so thick that you could cut it with a knife.

Hayden's boss either didn't seem to notice or didn't care. "Yeah, well Hayden I'm not paying you to talk with your friends. If they're coming in, then let them in already, and get back to work. You and your brother and your friends have fun Lori," he said more calmly before he then stomped back inside, leaving the four teens to their tension.

She bit the corner of her cheek but moved to pull the door open wider. "Welcome to Sinema," she said to the boys.

Liam and Mason went inside, right behind Lori as Hayden went and shut the door a little harder than necessary. The boys stepped out of the entrance area and their faces lit up as they took in the club. There was a DJ up on a stage blasting music with strobe and laser lights flashing everywhere giving off quite a party atmosphere. There were scores of people enjoying the atmosphere as they swayed and danced all around the place. There were also special one man stages set up here and there where there were a few half-naked guys dancing with some other guys, girls or drag queens dancing or watching nearby. Mason couldn't help a wide smile creeping up on him as he took in everything.

Liam though was starting to get a little nervous. "We don't look old enough to be here." Most of the people here seemed to be around their twenties. He even caught sight of a fully stocked bar off to the side.

"Technically," Lori said to him. "But the manager has been known to make exceptions here and there. As long as you don't make trouble."

"Like you?" he asked her. The guy seemed to like her back there.

Lori shook her head. "Like my brother," she said, pointing her chin off to their right.

Liam and Mason looked over and found Brett was dancing quite sensationally with a girl to the side. They were swaying and rubbing against each other to the music.

"He's a regular around here. And a favorite for the manager because he usually makes first timers want to come for return visits." Lori continued. "Girls." They watched as Brett moved away from her and reached for a guy next to them and started to dance and rub against him as the girl kept dancing and swaying near them. "And guys."

Liam guessed that was why Hayden bent to her manager and let him in. Didn't want to risk upsetting one of her boss' best customers and favorites. "So this club is mixed?" he asked.

Mason shrugged. "Ish." It seemed like his kind of place. He was happy he came along. "Well, I'm going to see if I can find a first timer for myself." He then quickly headed off, leaving Liam with Lori smiling after him.

"He'll be busy for a while," Liam muttered.

Lori giggled. "He just wants to have fun. Isn't that why you came here too?"

"I'm here to be his wingman."

Lori raised her eyes at that one. She then looked over and saw that her brother was looking right at her, in between the guy and girl pair he was dancing with. She could read the insistent look on his face. He was telling her to 'make your move'. He then thrust his chin up a tad. 'Now' he had added.

She sighed and then grabbed his hand. "Well, looks like Mason left you at the controls. So let's go take off?"

"What?" he muttered before he felt himself getting yanked.

Lori then began leading Liam through the dancing bodies until they got to an empty spot on the dance floor. Lori then turned to face him and started dancing. Liam just stood there awkwardly, surprised at this sudden change and move.

Lori's face fell a bit. "Something wrong?" she asked over the music, hoping it wasn't her.

But Liam shook his head. "No, it's just…I can't help but feel like I'm supposed to be doing something."

She stopped moving and stared right at him. "Like what?"

"I don't know, something. Scott, Stiles, Malia, and Kira are out trying to find out everything they can about these chimeras. Our word for them," he explained at her perplexed look. "I just think that they'll always see me as the 'baby' in the group."

Lori nodded. "Yeah, I get it. It can suck when you're the youngest or newest in the pack." That's what she was. "It can be frustrating whenever Satomi tells me to just keep an eye out, just be careful and act normal. Not to mention, Wilson and my brother always pulling me behind them like I can't look out for myself."

Liam dropped his gaze a bit. That was what Scott seemed to do a good deal of the time. Tell him not to worry and just try and be a normal kid. And he couldn't help but remember how Stiles had pulled him behind after he stepped up when they confronted Theo in the woods. "How do you handle it?"

She shrugged. "I just make sure that Satomi, Wilson, Brett and everyone else knows that I'm there when they need me and can count on me when the time is right." Liam quickly looked skeptical and she rolled her eyes at him. "Doesn't sound like much, I know, but you might be surprised at you how much it can matter. Especially with people that care as much as your pack does. Right now though, you have a chance to take a break and have fun. I say milk it because something tells me these chimeras aren't going to let any of us have much."

Liam just stared at her for a moment before he slowly broke a small smile, then started to sway a bit in his spot to the music. Lori smiled back and started to sway a bit with him. They started to slowly build momentum together until they were full on dancing together. Getting more into it, Lori's hand found its way on his shoulder and pulled herself a little closer to him, dancing with even more energy. Liam let out a breathless chuckle as he started to dance a little harder himself.

Off to the sides, both Brett and Mason watched the two of them and they both smiled a bit at the sight. Though Brett's face fell a bit when Liam's hands found their way to the back of his sister's waist.

"Hey," Mason said, shaking at his shoulder. "Settle down there wolf boy. Let them have some fun."

Brett narrowed his eyes a bit as Mason offered him a shot. He grabbed it and guzzled it down in a hard second, both shocking and impressing Mason.

Over at the bar, Hayden was watching them too as Phil the Bartender loaded the tray with long shots. As soon as he loaded the last of the shots, he noticed that Hayden was distracted. So he went to sneak one of them off the tray and drank it. Hayden was still watching as Liam wrapped his arms around Lori and she seemed to whisper something into his ear that caused them both to laugh and dance closer together. She felt her tray get bumped and looked over to see Phil plucking out two shots and there were a few empty spots on the tray and realized that he had been drinking them.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" she spat at him. "You know I have to pay for these, don't you?" She counted and already, there were five spots empty, having drunk them when she had been distracted no doubt.

"Yep," he snorted at her. He then reached for another one.

But Hayden pulled the tray away and almost half of the shot from the one he grabbed had spilled. "Here." Hayden then took the half empty shot and flung the rest of it at him, hitting him at his chest and face.

"The hell Romero?" he said before reaching for a towel.

"What are you complaining about Phil. You just stay back there and get drunk." She then huffed as she moved to head out with the shots.

"What got stuck up in her?" he mummed to himself before he reached for another bottle.

Hayden looked down at her and at her small stack of tips. "I'm never going to make enough," she hissed out before heading off.

She was unaware that Liam was watching her, and that he had heard what she just said.

Lori had noticed that Liam stopped dancing and seemed to be gazing off. "Something wrong?"

"What?" He then remembered the fun the two had been having together before he picked up Hayden's scent and voice. "Oh, sorry. I just, uh…sorry."

Lori then looked over and spotted Hayden in the direction that he had been staring off at. At the girl that had tried to deny letting him in. She realized that there must be some history there

"No, it's alright." Her voice had cracked a bit so she cleared her throat. "I'm going to go and get some water."

"Lori," he said softly but she was already walking away. He sighed heatedly as he was left alone in the middle of the dance floor. "Great," he mumbled to himself.

He looked off and found that Mason had found his way over to Brett and they were toasting each other with shots before guzzling them down. He was happy that at least Mason was having fun, even if that fun was with Brett. He wasn't so bothered by that guy as much anymore, especially after he had come to help them find those holes in the woods.

But suddenly, Liam felt something stirring in the air. He narrowed his eyes a bit as everything around him seemed to slow down and deafen as his instincts seemed to flare up. He could suddenly hear a single person breathing, and the sounds of a single pair of shoes stepping down the club. It seemed to be coming from behind him. He turned around but didn't seem to see anyone as his surroundings seemed to return to normal. Something told Liam that something wasn't right here…or rather, someone.

* * *

Scott and Kira watched as the elevator doors opened and Scott's mom was practically there to wave them to follow her. After they had left the school library, the two of them had gone off to and grab a bite to eat together. Afterwards, they were going to head to his place, but Scott's mom had called about a patient that she felt they had to see.

"He came in about 45 minutes ago," she told them as she led them through the halls.

They then quickly heard the sound of someone screaming out in pain. Liam's stepdad came over and informed Melissa that he was going to run off to find an anesthesiologist, leaving the three of them in front of the room where they could still hear the hard screaming almost clearly through the closed door.

"Mom, what's happening to him?" Scott asked as he stared at the door as the pained screaming continued.

"It's the pain, nothing's working. We already pumped him full of morphine."

"Can't we do anything to help him?" asked Kira.

"We put him into a medically induced coma. It's how we help burn victims deal with the pain," Melissa explained.

Scott narrowed his eyes. "Maybe I can help him," he told them. After all, he had something that worked better than morphine.

Scott then stepped inside and found that it was a kid, around Liam's own age. He remembers seeing him around the school sometimes in between classes. There was a medicinal wrap around his whole lower arm and Scott could smell blood and something else mixed in. The kid was restrained to the bed, sweating buckets as he whimpered and screamed and Scott's heart fell at the sight of him.

"Please, make it stop!" he cried out desperately.

Scott moved to take his hand with both of his and began to pull pain away from him. However, it was a lot, more than Scott had been expecting. It flowed up his arms and neck and started to go straight into his head and Scott almost collapsed at how intense the pain was. It was no wonder morphine wasn't doing anything. This kid's pain was…unnaturally high. Kira moved to try and steady Scott, trying to get him to let go but Scott didn't. He kept pulling as much pain as possible until the kid's screaming stopped and he seemed to settle down. Scott then let go and leaned over

"Let me see his arm," he asked his mom.

Melissa then went and carefully peeled back the wrap and they found that there was a big gash on his arm, but there wasn't red blood. There was some kind of brown/black dried residue all over the wound.

"Holy," Kira gasped.

"What is that?" asked Scott.

"The lab says its scorpion venom."

Scott's eyes went up. "Scorpion?" What kind of scorpion could've done this?

"But that's not the weirdest part. With a sting this bad, he should have been dead 10 hours ago. And, the scorpion that could've done this would have to be 10 feet tall.

"Please don't tell me there is a giant scorpion running across town," Kira freaked.

Scott could only think of one plausible explanation for this. There had to be a new Chimera out there, one that was part scorpion. But, they had no idea where to start looking for it.

"Lucas," the kid suddenly gasped out at them. "It was Lucas."

"Lucas?" said Scott. Was that the chimera's name.

"My boyfriend, I guess. We've been seeing each other a couple of weeks."

"What's your name?" Kira asked him.

"Corey," he answered.

Scott moved to kneel over next to him and started to speak softly to him. "Corey, what Lucas did to you, he's gonna do to someone else and it's gonna be much worse."

Kira moved to back him up. "We need to know what happened," she said to him gently.

"I don't know. He's never been like that before." He then moved to sit up a bit. He cringed a little, but managed to straighten a bit in the bed.

"Like what?" asked Scott.

"Aggressive. We were taking it slow, but it wasn't me. _He_ was the shy one. Then we're hanging out today and it was like he was a different person."

"Different how?" asked Scott.

"Like, super confident. We were just kissing and then, I felt this sharp sting on my arm. And then I looked up at him and I swear that his eyes turned black."

Kira stepped nervously closer to him. "You mean, totally black?"

Corey nodded. "The whole eye. But, it was only for a second. Then he said sorry and that he'll see me at the club tonight and then he just left. A few minutes later, I'm in the worst pain of my life."

"Hold on, you said club. What club?" she asked.

"Every Friday night. Sinema."

"Sinema?" Scott repeated a little louder.

* * *

Lori was leaning on the wall, close to the bar, playing with a bottle of water in her hands. She was so distracted by it and her thoughts, that she didn't see her brother approaching her.

"Is the bottle really that interesting?" Brett asked her in jest.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Hey."

"What's up? It looked you were having quite a bit of fun a while ago."

"Yeah and I thought I wasn't the only one," she said glumly.

Brett's face fell. "What's up?"

"It's nothing," she said insistently.

Now he knew that it had to be something.

At the opposite side of the club, Liam kept scanning the crowd, his instincts telling him to be tense and alert. Something was here, hiding, but he could feel it was close. He was so tense that he jumped when he had been grabbed from behind. He almost moved to attack when he saw that it was just Brett.

"God," he panted out.

"Hey, what's going on?" Brett asked. "What happened with you and my sister?"

Liam blinked. "What? Nothing."

Brett rose an eyebrow at him, clearly not buying it. Liam found himself squirming a bit under his gaze and his eyes flew off towards where Hayden was serving some people some shots.

"Who is that?"

"Hayden," Liam answered glumly.

Brett was starting to feel a love/hate vibe about those two. "She an ex or something?"

"What? No," he said quickly. "It's not like that."

"Then what is it like?"

"Nothing. It's, it's nothing."

"Well it clearly must be something or my sister wouldn't be off by herself right now."

Liam's face fell. "What do you mean?"

"You're kidding? You really can't tell?"

Liam's face widened as if to silently ask him, ' _Know what_?'.

"You really don't get it? Sheesh, even Mason could tell right off the bat." Brett rolled his eyes.

"Tell what?" Liam asked impatiently.

"Lori…she likes you. I mean _really_ likes you."

That made Liam freeze. "What, really?"

"Uh, yeah, really," Brett said sarcastically. Then he settled a bit. "For some bizarre reason, she's always kind of thought you were cute. And after that whole Deadpool thing, I think that kind of clinched it for her. That was the real reason she wanted to come to Sinema tonight, because she heard you might be coming."

Now Liam understood what Mason's earlier comment about him having someone interested had meant. "Lori likes me?"

"Yeah, so you watch yourself around my sister," he said with a bit of warning in his tone. "If you hurt her, you'll answer to me."

Liam took a second to dwell on all that before he felt his insides twitch as the feeling from before came back. "Hey, do you feel that?" he asked Brett.

"Feel what?"

"I don't think we're the only ' _special_ ' ones here."

Brett saw that Liam seemed to be tensing up and he moved to scanned the crowd. After a second, he shrugged. "No, I don't feel anything."

"There's someone else here. Besides us and Lori. _Something_ else."

"Another werewolf?"

But Liam shook his head. "No, not a werewolf." After hanging around so many over the last six months, both in his and Brett's pack, he knew what being around a werewolf felt like. "Something different. Like us…but they're not like us. You sure you can't feel anything?"

Brett shrugged. "Maybe, but it's Beacon Hills. That could mean anything. What's the difference?" After all, he knew that it wasn't just werewolves that were around here. Liam's pack had a banshee, kitsune and werecoyote in it. He couldn't help but feel concerned at how Liam seemed so bothered.

But Liam shook his head. "There's something off about it. It feels…wrong."

Brett moved to try and settle him down but Liam took off to keep searching. A moment after Liam left, Mason came up to him.

"Hey, uh, do you see that guy?" Mason asked him, pointing to a cute guy with a buzz cut. "You know him?"

Brett nodded. "Yeah, that's Lucas."

Brett then turned and started to look off to try and find the one Liam had been talking about while Mason and Lucas stared at each other. Soon, the both of them had flirting smiles on them as they kept staring at each other. What Mason couldn't see though was that there were stingers starting to pop out at the sides of his arms.

As Liam moved through the club, he had to wonder if what he was feeling might be coming from one of 'them'. The Chimeras that Scott had mentioned. Was one here? He felt a shift in the air, and Liam felt his eyes glow in response. He started to aggressively push his way through the crowd, trying to find where this feeling was coming from but he ended up bumping into someone and some glasses fell. He looked up to find Hayden bearing down on him.

"Are you kidding me?" she spat at him. "Those were $10 each Liam."

"Sorry," he quickly apologized.

Hayden clicked her tongue in irritation. "The bartender isn't just going to just refill them for me." Especially with her last aggravated stunt with him.

Liam quickly started to reach for his pockets. "It's okay, I've got money." He reached around and found some money. "I've got $12." He reached into another pocket and pulled out some coins. "And change," he added.

Hayden took the bills but grabbed the coins and threw them right back at him. "You still owe me $200." She then left him at that.

Liam watched as the coins scattered around him. He was going to start trying to pick them up but he stopped when he saw Lori walking off. It looked like she was heading off for the entrance. He forgot the dropped change and ran over to her.

"Lori, where are you going?" he asked as reached her. "Are you leaving?"

She sighed. "Yeah. I think I'm going to just head on home."

Seeing how dejected she looked, Liam couldn't help but feel bad. Lori had helped him actually feel a little better tonight and he had blown her off in the middle of them having fun.

Mason had gone over to Lucas and they moved to find some privacy in the back. They headed through some bead curtains and found a vacant spot that was a little dark but quieter.

"Night of the Living Dead," Mason said suddenly.

Lucas seemed thrown at that random bit. "What? The movie?"

Mason looked over at the far side and Lucas saw that there was a movie projector on and a movie was going. It was the movie Night of the Living Dead. It was how the club got its name but, right now, there was no one else in the projector room.

"Yeah, it's one of the first classic zombie movies. Have you never seen it?"

"Never. How does it end?"

"Zombies pretty much win. All the good guys die."

A sort of hungry look came over Lucas. "So, I guess it's better to be one of the bad guys." He then started to slowly approach him, like an animal on the prowl.

Mason started to back up a bit but had an entranced look on his face as he stared at Lucas. "Maybe," he said lightly. But then he stopped when he hit a wall. "Sometimes."

The two of them then started to kiss and make out. Mason didn't notice the stingers emerging out of Lucas' back, along his spine. As they kept getting into it, the stingers began to travel and appear alongside his arms but Mason still was none the wiser.

Lucas was smirking as he kissed Mason and was about to drive plunge a stinger at him when he had been grabbed at the back of his shirt and flung back across the room. Brett, shifted and snarling, looked down at Lucas who raised his head up at him to show that his eyes had gone completely black and his stingers were in full view.

Brett turned back to Mason. "Run for it," he growled at him.

Mason bolted as Brett turned and faced Lucas again, who had gotten back to his feet. They then threw a hard growl at each other.

Back with Liam and Lori, they were snapped out of their awkward moment when they heard the growl.

"Brett?" Lori gasped out in surprise.

"Oh no," Liam muttered.

Outside the club, Scott and Kira were moving fast paced and nervously.

"A kid turning into a half-scorpion, half-werewolf. Is there even a myth for that?" she asked him.

Scott nodded. "Sumerian. I remember something about it in the bestiary." He think it was called a manticore or something.

They walked into the club through the back entrance and got inside to find that an alarm had been triggered. Kira quickly moved for her belt and removed a metal disc and quickly threw it at the bell, stopping it.

Scott shook his head in exasperation. "God, I love you," he said to her.

He then took off for the club floor, leaving Kira there, slightly in shock at what he had just said to her. She blinked and then ran to catch up to him. She saw that he was looking around and acting like nothing was different or changed and Kira shook her head in disbelief.

"You did it again. You did something that changed everything and you don't even realize you did it. But you did."

He stopped and turned to face her. "I did?" he asked, wondering what she was talking about. That made Kira give him a look.

But they were thrown out of it when they heard roaring through the music.

Brett was fighting with Lucas, and it seemed like he might have the upper hand against him, but Lucas managed to nick at Brett's leg with one of his stingers. Brett cringed as he felt a numbing pain spread from his leg, to the rest of his body for a moment. A moment that gave Lucas enough time to strike again, this time across Brett's torso. Brett fell to the floor, practically helpless as Lucas raised his arm to prepare another strike on him.

But a hard roar made him freeze and look over. Lori had roared at him and Liam rushed in and jackknifed him off into a nearby table.

Lori jumped down to kneel before her brother. "You okay?"

"I'll be alright. Get him," he growled at her.

Lucas fought Liam off and managed to turn them around so that he was lying on top of the table, trying to hold him and his claws from reaching his neck. Lori brought out her claws and was moving to go and strike at Lucas' back but froze when a hard pain hit her heart. She cringed back and fell to one knee, just as Brett felt the same pain and grabbed at his heart, which was hurting more than the wounds from Lucas. The siblings moved to share a disturbed look at each other as they held their chests.

"Wilson," they gasped to each other, in pain.

Meanwhile, Liam had been left to try and fight off Lucas by himself. The stingers itching closer and closer to his face. He vaguely wondered where Lori was but then heard someone come into the projector room and saw that it was Scott and Kira.

"You're a little late," he grunted against Lucas' hold.

Scott took note of Brett and Lori on the floor, seemingly in pain before he moved to swing on a pole and kick Lucas off Liam while Kira removed her belt and had it transform into her sword. Scott carefully stepped back to avoid a strike from Lucas' claws so that he wouldn't get hit or injected with any venom from his stingers. But Lucas kicked at Scott's chest and sent him flying off into the wall.

Liam had taken the free moment he had to look over and saw that Lori was crutched on the floor, apparently hurt. That made him growl at Lucas and he ran at him with his claws raised but Lucas avoided his strike and moved to kick him down as well. Liam quickly brought his hands and caught Lucas' foot. He then savagely threw it back, nearly making the chimera stumble back and almost lose his balance and fall. While stunned, Liam moved to capitalize and tackled into Lucas, fully knocking them down. As they rolled onto the floor, Lucas had thrust his arm into Liam's side, making him cry out in pain as he felt some stingers pierce into him.

Lucas quickly made his way to his feet to see Kira moving for him, swinging her sword. He moved his arm to intercept the blade with his stinger before moving his other arm to strike at her. Kira managed to duck out of its way as she spun and tried to come at him with her sword again. But Lucas had raised his arm and intercepted the blade again.

Mason found his way back into the room and kneeled over to where Brett and Lori were. "Are you two okay?" he asked them, seeing that they both seemed hurt. He caught the sight of Brett bleeding and moved to try and hold the wound and stop the blood, but didn't see any wound on Lori. Yet, she still seemed very hurt, holding her chest. "Lori, what's wrong?"

"Something…something's happened," she grunted out lowly.

"What?" he asked.

"To Wilson. We can feel it. Something's happened to him. Something bad."

"What?" Mason asked again, more desperately.

The siblings shared a look.

"I think we've lost him," Brett painfully grumbled out.

Kira was still fighting Lucas, trying to land a blow with her sword but he was meeting and blocking every strike with his stinger loaded arms. She then got an idea and moved to throw another sword strike and again, Lucas blocked it. But when he did, Kira quickly jumped and threw a kick at his chest, that sent him stumbling back, stunned. Liam grit his teeth through the pain from his stingers and moved to grab at Lucas as soon as he recovered and ran for Kira. Liam took him at his shoulders, being mindful of the stingers this time and threw him to the ground. Liam then moved to put his foot to keep him pinned down and he growled a bit down at him.

As Lucas was pinned, his black eyes slowly shifted back to normal and his muscles seemed to relax under Liam's foot. It seemed that Lucas was calming down. Liam looked over to see that Mason was with Brett and Lori off to the side. He saw that the two of them looked like they were in some kind of distress. His face fell a bit when he saw that Lori seemed to be in pain, though he couldn't detect any blood or injury on her and grew concerned at what was wrong.

Lucas was still lying there on the ground but his stingers were still on display on his arms. Kira saw that Liam had let his guard down on him, just as Malia had let her guard down with Tracy. She remembered how Tracy had gotten the drop and nearly killed Malia in that moment. Lucas' eyes were normal but he didn't look like he was in a trance or terror like Tracy supposedly had been, nor did it sound like he had been in one with Corey. Just then, a part of her started screamed for her to move. As if on automatic, she began twirling her sword as her aura flared up.

Scott noticed her moving in, screaming in Japanese as she went for what seemed to be a killing blow. He managed to catch her wrists before she could bring her sword down on him. As Scott caught Kira's glowing eyes, her aura seemed to burn brighter until all he saw was the face of the fox, without even having to use his wolf eyes. It lasted for a moment before it fizzled out and Kira seemed back to normal. Lucas seemed to pass out then and there and Scott blinked as everyone seemed to calm themselves down.

"Is everyone okay?" he asked. Nobody said anything but the made silent gestures to show that they were more or less okay, physically at least. Scott then looked down at Lucas, who was still displaying his stingers. "Liam, help me get him out of here."

They moved to grab Lucas' arms and legs but before they could start carrying him out, a blade went and pierced his chest. They dropped him in shock as they saw the blade leaving Lucas' chest and flying off to a harpoon gun being carried by a man in a metallic mask up in the rafters. They saw that there were three of them. The men that Malia had told them about.

Scott looked down and saw that Lucas was now dead. "Why did you do that?"

The Surgeon looked down at Scott as the other two started to blur out of sight. "His condition was terminal," he said in a monotone voice. Then he started to blur too.

"What does that mean?" Scott gasped. "What does that mean?!" He repeated when the Surgeon seemed to turn around.

The Surgeon looked back at him. "Failure."

There was then an electrical discharge that turned off the lights for a moment. When they flickered back on, the three of them were gone.

* * *

Malia had been heading for Stiles' house, but her route had taken her in the vicinity of Tracy's house. She decided to head on for it and go inside. It was easy to get inside as the place was empty, as all the people who had lived there were now dead. Mr. Stewart by his own daughter's hand, or claws. And Tracy by the men in the masks. Malia sat in Tracy's bed, just staring off through her window, thinking about everything that had happened. Thinking about how Tracy had killed her own father, therapist and had tried to kill Lydia's mom and her, while almost killing Lydia.

A small part of Malia couldn't help but think that she and Tracy had something in common. They had both flown into rages and killed people they had loved. Yet, Tracy had been thought to be innocent but had really been guilty while Malia had been thought to be guilty but really had been innocent. She knew that Stiles and everyone else would argue that it was the complete opposite and she shouldn't think about it, Malia couldn't help but feel like she could relate a little to Tracy.

Her vision finally broke free from the window and went off to the drawings and artwork that decorated the wall. They were all hand drawn, Malia guessed from Tracy herself. They were all completely random, people drawings, or of symbols, one had nothing but black scribbles strewn all over the paper. She sighed and moved to just leave when something caught her eye. It was book that seemed to be hidden underneath a pocketbook. Malia found a note saying that it was something that Tracy had asked for. A scary read. She lifted the note and gasped. It was titled: The Dread Doctors. But that wasn't why she gasped. The cover had an illustration of the three men in masks that Malia had seen at the station. The ones making the Chimeras.

* * *

Brett and Lori got over to Satomi's and found that everyone in the pack was already there. Among them, stood Ms. Ramsey. Every one there had a pained or worried expression on their face. But none's seemed more stronger than the Alpha herself. It was then that they realized that it was true.

Wilson, the Second of the pack and their good friend and surrogate big brother…was dead.

* * *

Lucas' body was lying on a slab in the morgue over at Beacon Memorial with Scott and his mother watching over it. Melissa was staring uncomfortably at him while Scott was just sad.

"I'm sure they'll come up with a reasonable explanation for the stingers in his arms," she said nervously. "I guess it's better than trying to explain a tail."

"Better than the truth?" Scott said glumly.

She sighed. "Maybe. This is the best we can do for now." She then moved to slide the body into the compartment and then closed the door.

Scott then began pacing off. "I should've done better. I should've known that this was going to happen. I should've been able to stop it."

Melissa nodded her head down before she slowly approached him. "You know, your grandfather used to have a saying about the word should. You know what you're doing when you say should too often? You're should-ing all over yourself." That made Scott nod his own head down but a small smile found its way to him. Her face fell serious again. "I know that I can't be the Mom that says 'I don't want you to do anything about this' Because you're always going to be involved. Because not only do you have the power to do something, you care enough to do it. So, all you really need is to ask yourself, 'What am I going to do?'"

Scott took a moment to think before letting out a deep breath. "I'm going to find out who did this, and I'm going to stop them."

His mother nodded and then she moved to leave the morgue. Scott walked to follow right after her and they turned the lights in the room off before leaving. Barely a moment after they left, someone new stepped into the morgue and started to go towards the compartments. Specifically for the one containing Lucas' body. It was Jordan Parrish.

Jordan had been with Lydia for a better part of the day until she had woken up in the late afternoon. Her mother had arrived and Jordan decided to go home and clean and rest himself up a bit, as well as let Lydia and her mother have some time together. He had decided to come back to the hospital later that night and was heading for her room. But, it seemed like his senses dulled and he instead made his way for the morgue. He rolled out Lucas's body and stared down at it with an emotionless expression on his face. Jordan reached over and took the body in his arms and then started to carry it out of the room and the hospital with no one seeing him. A faint fiery orange glow flickered in his eyes as he walked.

Soon enough, he reached the woods and was heading off to a clearing. One that held the Nemeton. He placed the body on the stump and his body began to flare up in flames. His flames started to spread and begin to envelop Lucas. Jordan's eyes stared as the body was fully covered in fire and began to burn away.

* * *

Liam lied in his bed that night, just staring out at his ceiling with his mind going a mile a minute. While he was a little freaked by those three guys in the masks he saw, Liam was thinking more about both Hayden and Lori.

He found out that Lori liked him. Really liked him and he had no idea while it seemed his best friend had. He probably should've seen it for himself. Lori was always nice to him to him back at Devenford and during these last six months whenever he hung around her pack. She even made him feel better with how he was feeling tonight and helped him have some fun. He wouldn't deny that he thought that Lori was cute and that she was also pretty cool. And she was a werewolf so he didn't have to worry about that coming between them.

Then there was Hayden. It seemed that she was always mad at him over something and it looked like she went out of her way to spite him for what happened back in elementary school. No matter how nice he tried to be to her, she gave him nothing but grief over it. A part of him felt nervous and intimidated when he was around her but he couldn't deny that he found himself drawn to her regardless. Hayden was pretty cute herself. And, from what he heard at the club, he guessed she was stressing over something and he couldn't help but wonder what it was.

Their faces started swimming before his mind's eye and Liam let his head slam back into his pillow as he sighed out in frustration. Everything was already feeling so complicated right now with these chimeras showing up. Now he didn't know what to feel about these two gorgeous girls. Or what to do. And he was getting frustrated, in more ways than one.

* * *

Stiles had woken up from his sleep to find that everyone was already gone. He checked his watch and saw that it was pretty late. Most people would be starting to get settled in for bed right now. It looked like he had been really tired. Stiles resolved to not let Wilson catch word of this. The guy had told him that he would burn out if he didn't get more sleep and he had ignored his advice. If he found that he practically dozed off in school for half the night, the next day, he'd never let him forget it. Stiles wouldn't if he was in his position.

He packed up the books he had left out and just walked out of the empty school and made for his jeep. The entire parking lot was empty. His jeep was practically the only car around. But, when he tried to start it up, it wouldn't.

He sighed. "Just great," he mumbled.

He opened his glove compartment for the roll of duct tape and pulled out the envelope he had found at home. Stiles had almost forgotten about it. He heatedly sighed as he grabbed the tape and made for the engine. He opened the hood and a full puff of smoke poured right out. The strong smell of burnt glue and plastic shoved its way into his lupine nose, nearly make him gag.

"Just what I needed!" he called out in frustration as he tried to blow the toxic smell out of his nostrils. But the smell lingered.

Stiles just sighed and he moved to start applying the tape. He noticed that there seemed to be a bolt that was a little loose. Grabbing for his toolbox, he pulled out one of his wrenches and moved to try and fix it.

Unbeknownst to him, Donovan was slowly heading for him. Blood smeared across his mouth and staining his fingers. He was feeling strong and confident right now due to his recent meal. Theo had helped to prepare him and make him ready for taking on Stiles and he was more than ready for this. He opened up his palm and willed a set of razor sharp teeth to appear in the middle like a mouth had formed in his hand and a smirk spread on his face where his bloodstained teeth were slightly visible. He kept his steady pace as he got closer and closer to Stiles from behind.

The smell from earlier was keeping Stiles from detecting the stench of blood and he was also feeling too frustrated for his instincts to pick up the incoming danger as his head was dunked in under the hood of his jeep. He finished tightening the bolt and set the wrench down. He reached for the roll of tape to prepare a strip to secure it when his eyes narrowed as he suddenly heard something.

Before he could react, he felt an intense pain as Donovan reached his jawed palm to Stiles' shoulder and had it bite down as hard and deep as he could. Stiles let out a deep pained scream.

* * *

A/N: First, I want to ask if anyone has a good pairing name for Liam and Lori as I don't think anyone had ever given them one as I've never seen a story with the two of them as a pairing choice. I was thinking of either Liori or Loriam.

The next chapter will be a special chapter that will cover more about this day for a good many of the characters as there was too much to put in this one alone. I did set up some glimpses that will be continued on for Wilson, Charlie as well as Theo, Courtney and Donovan. Even a bit for Stiles, Malia and her dad, and for Cora. It will all tie in for what all comes next. Big things are coming and changing for everyone now.


	12. Thickening Plots

Chapter 11: Thickening Plots

 **6:30 am**

The sun was starting to rise and shed some light outside the windows of Oscar's sitting room of his . There were three other betas in the room along with Charlie and his fellow beta Miles, standing around in silence. The scrapes and bullet wounds they got were now completely gone, as if they had never happened. Even after six months, the fact that he could now heal so well still through Charlie for a loop. The only bad thing was that even if the wounds themselves have healed themselves, some pain still lingered from what they had healed from like a hard ache. Charlie felt a bit sore in the spots where he had been bumped and cut by thorns during his run and he saw Miles was shifting his feet a bit, no doubt still reeling from getting shot in the leg, even if the wound was gone now.

Leaning off in a corner, looking out the window was Oscar. A passive look was on his face but the werewolves in the room could easily detect his disappointment He just stayed silent, looking out at the early morning light starting to peer out into the skies.

He then spoke out of nowhere. "I have to say, I am far from impressed with what I saw from you two. You were both caught and brought to heel, far from the safe point during a simple hunting exercise. Given the military backgrounds you both possess, I would have expected something far more impressive."

"Yeah we're fine from getting shot at too, thanks," Miles sputtered out.

Immediately, Oscar's face hardened and Charlie inwardly cringed. While he appreciated Miles' sarcasm, it was clear that Oscar, and a few of their fellow betas didn't. Before any of them knew it, Oscar came forward and clawed at Miles' face. Miles cried and crutched down, holding his face as Charlie jumped next to him.

"Still fine?" he asked, indifferent to what he had just done.

Miles had his hand over the left side of his face where some drops of blood were starting to ooze through the space in his fingers. He looked up at Oscar to see the Alpha flashing his red eyes dangerously at him. He took a breath and averted his eyes. "Ecstatic."

"What was that?" Oscar said stiffly.

Charlie knew what Oscar wanted and let his foot tap against Miles', making him look up at him. He widened his eyes down at him and tried to mentally tell him what Oscar was looking for. His former drill instructor pulled the same thing with his unit back in basic training. Miles cringed but straightened himself up.

"I'm well sir," he said in a sterner tone.

Oscar nodded. "Good. Now, either of you care to tell me what went wrong?"

Charlie decided to answer when he saw Miles hesitant to talk after what Oscar did to him. "We weren't prepared. We've never been through something like that before."

Oscar rose his eyebrows at him in disbelief. "What? I thought you army types always have skirmish drills like that all the time. It's the very reason that I chose to give the bite to both of you in the first place. What, were both of you at the bottom of your classes or something?"

Charlie was barely able to keep himself from rolling his eyes at Oscar's rant. First, gave them the bite? He didn't 'give' them anything, he forced it on them. Second, Miles wasn't in the army, he was in a military style prep school. Only he had been, which is why he was able to endure Oscar being a hard-ass. He was a carbon copy of his squad's drill instructor.

"Oscar, you took us deep into the woods, out of nowhere, with bags on our heads. You gave no explanation until we got there and then ripped them off to show us four men armed with sniper and assault rifles. You then tell us to run through the woods, unarmed, and get to the road if we want to live. Then those guys start shooting at us. That's not a skirmish you put us through, it was a straight up manhunt."

The Alpha didn't blink at Charlie's scolding tone. "Exactly," he said to both of their visible shocks. "A hunt. All part of your new lives as werewolves. Consider it practice for when the time comes when you meet real hunters. Only, they won't be as gentle as my associates were."

"Gentle?!" Miles cried out incredulously. He still remembered how his leg felt like it was on fire a few hours ago from the bullet that had been stuck into him. "You call getting chased and shot at in the woods with automatics gentle?!" Miles cried out.

"Watch your tone," Oscar lowly but harshly. He narrowed his eyes at Miles, making them flash red at him and Miles quickly found his insides shrivel up and shrunk back. "And as for your question, yes, I do call it gentle. The two of you have only been wolves for a few months. You've been spared so far, but let me tell you here and now, hunters won't be with either of you."

"Yeah, and that's if you're lucky," muttered a beta behind the two of them. "If you're not, they will spare you, and make you wish they didn't." He then went to move his hand over where his left ribs were. "I sure did."

That pain in his voice made Charlie want to flinch.

"He's lucky we were able to find and save him before they finished having their fun with him," said another beta. "Not too many other werewolves get that chance."

Charlie felt a chill run down his spine and it seemed that Miles was feeling something similar. Their alpha wasn't done with them yet though.

"Miles," he said, making all their attention fall back on him. "Your foolishness led you to being shot out there." Oscar moved but surprisingly went to stand in front of Charlie. "But you, you disappointed me the most."

"Oscar?" said Charlie, confused.

"When you saw that Miles was down, you should've taken the time to flee while he had given you the opening."

"And leave him behind? Soldiers don't leave their people behind. And aren't pack mates supposed to be the same?" he asked the alpha somewhat passionately.

And Oscar responded in kind. "Yes, but what did that get you last night?" That made Charlie's jaw tighten. "You ended up getting caught along with him. Had that happened during the real thing, the hunters gotten two wolves instead of one and the rest of the pack might not have had any warning maybe until the next one was ready to be taken. How would that have helped your other pack mates? Answer me that!" he spat at him. Charlie didn't say anything. He just glared on ahead and Oscar nodded triumphantly. "I thought as much," he smugly said at him. He then visibly sniffed the air and settled himself. "I know you hate me right now, and I don't care. The Alpha doesn't need to be liked, he needs to make sure that the pack doesn't die. I turned the two of you because I hoped you could help me do that. But, if you are going to help do the opposite, I'll kill you both myself. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir," they both muttered stiffly to him.

Oscar then stepped into his personal office with his Second Dean, a very imposing looking man, behind Oscar himself, trailing behind him. He closed the soundproofed door behind him, as Oscar went to switch on some classical music to play on the speakers inside.

"Was that a little too much Oscar?" Dean lightly asked him as soon as the music came on.

Oscar went to sit down at his makeshift desk and spin his chair to face him. "What do you mean Dean?"

"The hunting exercise. Charlie and Miles actually did better than the rest of the pack did during their first hunting test. They lasted longer and got closer to the road than any of them, even myself."

"Yes, I noticed. It seems I did make a good choice turning them. Their military training and education helped them better than normal bitten betas. I can only imagine how they'll be after a few more months when they gotten a better grasp of their new abilities."

Dean still looked lost. "Then, what was all that back there?"

"If I sing praises for those army boys this early then they'll start growing lax, which I can't afford, especially now. Besides, their actions last night weren't all praise worthy. Brave as it was, Charlie still had made a stupid and foolish move during the hunting trial. Miles was as good as dead and he went and killed himself along with him trying to carry him away. Pulling off brave stunts like his might earn him a gold star, medal or whatever in the army but against hunters it could get him as well as the rest of us killed." Oscar suddenly stopped and took a deep breath. "Point is, I need them to stop thinking like good honorable soldiers and start thinking like hardened wolves. We're going to need them, sooner rather than later." Oscar turned to look out the window with a far off look on his face.

The change in demeanor made Dean start feeling anxious. "Oscar? Has something happened?"

"Not happened, _happening_. I've got some news from an alpha that I know in Vermont about a week ago. And again from some werewolves belonging to packs in Maine and Pennsylvania. Word is spreading all along the eastern seaboard that the hunter families and clans are starting to move underground."

"Underground? You mean, they're going into hiding?" That was a switch as it was usually the werewolves that needed to go underground, not the hunters.

"That is the leading theory at the moment. A handful of hunters had recently caught some heat from the feds. Arrested and taken into custody during some surprising raids."

"How? Why?" Hunters weren't usually that sloppy.

"I have a hunch. You know that after the battle at La Iglesia in Mexico over six months ago, the Calaveras were taken into federal custody, right?" Dean nodded and Oscar continued. "Well, it seems that they were released about two weeks ago, well at least that fossil Araya, her nephew Severo and a handful of others. Well, most of the Calaveras' assets and holdouts were stripped and seized, not to mention they've been put under surveillance. Hunting wasn't supposed to really be an option for them anymore. But, they were tracked moving east before suddenly just dropping out of sight."

"Let me guess, around a week ago, when many of the other hunters started going underground," Dean piped in.

The Alpha pointed right at him, telling him he was spot on. "It's no coincidence. Some think they're all trying to lay low together until all this federal heat blows over-"

"But really they're likely planning something," Dean finished for him.

Oscar nodded, happy with his Second's deduction. "Exactly. Which is why I need to bring the hammer down and accelerate my plans of expanding our pack's power. Two of these new recruits were a good start but I need more."

"The old lady find any more potential recruits?"

"No, she hasn't found anyone as of late. I don't expect her to find more anytime soon as I had sent her to look into something else for me. The situation to the west."

Dean stiffened. "What is the situation?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. But, I will say that it is escalating. And, it could be the push that is needed to give me the opportunity of a lifetime. If so, then we need to have the upperhand. Speaking of-"

Dean quickly nodded. "Don't worry Oscar. I already have someone working on the Hales for us right now. They'll confirm if your suspicions about the child's father are true or not."

"Good. It would be so much easier if I could get Maggie to confirm it for me. I'm sure she already knows the truth herself. Yet, even though she's apprenticed under my emissary, I can't trust her. She's too taken with Derek Hale and close with his sister to risk them. Just make sure that your man is discreet. The Hales are naturally distrusting and if they get wind that I'm prying then it could drive them away and I need them close."

"Yes, I know. Don't worry, I have it under control."

While the door was soundproofed and the music drowned out anything prying lupine ears could hear on the other side, the room's vent still left a small opening for what was being said to be heard through a vent grate in the bathroom. That someone being Charlie.

* * *

 **7:15 am**

Malia woke up that morning to a pleasant smell drifting through the air and went to the kitchen to see that her dad had a small stack of pancakes ready on the table. He was at the stove, over a pot that had strips of meat sizzling on the surface. The smell of it made a small satisfied growl escape her throat and that caught his attention.

"Hey sweetie, good morning. How'd you sleep?"

"Not very good," she bluntly told him.

"With how you looked when you came home, I figured as much." When Stiles had dropped Malia off, he saw how upset she was. She hadn't said what was wrong and he didn't push. But, he hoped that Malia would feel well enough to tell her after she had slept and had a good breakfast. "That's why I decided some pancakes. When I was your age, after I had a crappy day my father would go and place a stack of vanilla/nutmeg pancakes with a side of bacon in front of me the next morning."

She nodded before looking at the meat still cooking. "That's not normal bacon, is it?" It smelled different to her. A good kind of different.

"No." He smiled fondly at her. "It's deer."

She returned his smile before running over and pulling him in for a warm hug. "Thanks dad," she said into his shoulder. That made him squeeze back a little harder.

Soon after, they were both sitting at the table, enjoying the pancakes and Malia scarfed down the deer bacon strips. Henry also moved to grab two strips for himself. He had to admit that deer wasn't so bad, when it was properly cooked of course.

"You feeling better?" he asked her after half her stack was gone.

"A bit," she sighed out.

"I heard that something happened at the precinct on the news. Some kind of an attack and a prisoner got out. You were all there, weren't you?"

"Yeah, we were."

Malia then moved to slowly explain everything that had happened since the night of Senior Scribe. From the attack by the werewolf with talons, to Tracy and her serpent tail attacking them at the vet clinic and at the station. She then told him how she had encountered those three men in the masks who had appeared out of nowhere and then disappeared. Though, Malia found that she wasn't able to tell her dad about how Tracy had been ready to kill her. She didn't exactly know why she was leaving it out, just that she didn't want to say anything about it.

Henry was silent and didn't interrupt Malia while she told him everything. His heart almost dropped when he heard about Tracy Stewart's tail and her power to paralyze people with a single strike. And the fact that she had done that to his daughter and her friends before taking off and attacking more of her friends at the Sheriff's station. He knew that all this supernatural stuff could get...insane. Everything that had happened in the last year had more than proven that. But this seemed to be on a whole other level, and his daughter seemed to again be in the thick of it. When she was talking about heading for the station, Malia had stopped in her story for a moment, before she started to talk about running into those three men in masks. He could see that something about that encounter had frightened her.

"Unbelievable," Henry muttered after she was done. "Just when I thought things couldn't get any crazier around here. Is Lydia going to be okay?"

"I don't know. She lost a lot of blood. They had to send her into surgery."

Henry let his gaze fall a bit before he rose his head back up. "How is everyone else?"

"Terrible," she said before she moved to shove another piece of deer bacon into her mouth. "Scott and Kira are feeling upset. Liam is scared. Theo seems to be trying to keep himself calm."

She then trailed off for a bit and Henry seemed to notice a name missing.

"And Stiles?"

Malia moved to stare down at her plate as she absentmindedly swirled a piece of pancake over a drop of syrup over and over. "He was...angry. And anxious. I'm getting a little worried."

Henry nodded in understanding. "Well I can't say I blame him for being anxious or angry, given what happened to his friends and his father last night."

But Malia shook her head. "No, it's not just last night. He's been like this for a while now. Since before we left for the summer, he's been really anxious about something. I can always smell it all over him. Whenever we're together. When we're at school, riding in his jeep, or sleeping together in his room. I've been trying to help but he still has trouble sleeping a lot of the time."

Henry took a moment to try and block out any visual images of Stiles in bed with his daughter. He thought about the timing, and he quickly guessed what this might be about. "Uh, I can't say that I'm surprised sweetheart. You're all seniors now. It's natural and normal for some teenagers to be feeling that around this time."

The confusion was plain on Malia's face. "What do you mean?"

"This is the last year all of you can be like this. Once the school year ends, everyone goes off and begins their separate new lives in the world."

"Yeah, Stiles was worried about wanting everyone to still be together. He told me he has a vision."

He sighed to himself. Henry did like Stiles. Yes, he was a little different, even without the werewolf thing thrown in, but he thought that it made him a good fit for Malia. He couldn't have asked for his daughter to have had a better first boyfriend. Yet, he knew how it would all likely end.

"Well, maybe the reason Stiles is getting more anxious and aggravated is because he's starting to find out that his vision is not going to be as easy or simple as he hoped it would be."

"Why?"

"Well, for starters, his best friend has been struggling for the longest time to keep his grades, so much that he went to summer school to help raise them. Scott can't get a scholarship so worked an internship at the hospital to help get college credit but he still might not be able to make tuition for Davis and his mother is thinking of selling the house. Kira is juggling between a school close to her boyfriend and a school close to her family. Lydia is overwhelmed with options and might choose one that is far away from everyone."

"How do you know all that?" Malia cut in. It felt like he knew more about her friends than she did.

He smiled sadly at her. "We parents talk to each other almost as much our kids do. And there is an even bigger issue that Stiles is having trouble dealing with."

Her heart dropped. "What?"

"That he might have to leave girlfriend behind." He sighed when he saw his daughter's eyes widen. "Malia, I know you've been working hard to catch up with school, proud of that by the way, but do you really plan to go to college?"

"Uh...I don't know." She looked down and tapped her finger against the side of her plate.

"Sweetie, please, you can be honest."

She shrugged. "Not really."

Henry nodded. "And I can get that, kind of. I mean, spending half of your life as a coyote out in those woods, you don't really know where or how you want your future to turn out. But Stiles, he does want to go to college. He's been working on it for so long and all his work has given him more than his fair share of choices."

And Henry knew that Stiles did have his share. The Sheriff had told him about the opportunity that had come for his son in the mail a few days before school started. Apparently, Stiles had been offered both an academic and lacrosse sports scholarship to Georgetown University. A full ride to one of the most impressive universities in the country. Apparently, someone had put his name down and given them their recommendation to review Stiles as a potential student. They had sent a school representative during one of Beacon Hills' lacrosse games a few months ago and had been impressed with Stiles' healthy level of play and looked at his academics. Yet, the Sheriff knew that Stiles was looking into UC district schools so that he could be close by his friends and Beacon Hills, or Malia. With what was happening, he was sure that the Sheriff hadn't found the right chance to tell Stiles but he knew the man would have to do it soon. Henry knew that a chance like this didn't come along often. And he knew that his daughter cared too much for Stiles for him to give it up for her sake.

He continued. "He has an idea for what he wants for himself after high school, but I think he's beginning to realize that you don't, if he hasn't already. Stiles is probably worried that you'll feel like he's leaving you behind if he goes off to college. But he does want to go and doesn't want you to feel like you're making him have to choose between you and his college dreams."

Malia quickly straightened up. "I don't want him to have to give up any of that for me," she said quickly.

"I know sweetie," he said back quickly. "I know."

But from his own graduation experience, he knew that it was highly likely that it just might not be an option.

* * *

 **2:45 pm**

Liam and Mason were walking out of their last class together and headed out in the hallway which was slowly filling with other students as classes were starting to end for the day. Liam moved and stopped in front of his locker while Mason was checking his phone, looking eager and expectant.

Liam noticed how Mason's mood seemed to have jumped. "Mason?"

"What are you doing tonight?" his friend asked him suddenly and excitedly.

"Why?"

"You're coming out with me to Sinema tonight."

He closed his locker door and looked over at him. "Sinema? That club you were talking about before?"

"Yeah. I just got the green light to go and I can bring a friend. So, you're coming with me."

Liam sighed. "Uh, Mason I don't think I can right now."

"Why not?"

"Uh, maybe because there are werewolves running around with snake tails and giant talons."

That made Mason blink a bit. "Yeah, but didn't you guys already stop them?"

"Two of them, but there are still more of them out there. You saw the holes."

"Yeah, but there's been no sign of them or any new attacks?"

"No, but we still need to find them." Liam started to raise his voice up a bit and his breathing quickened. "And there's still those guys in masks Malia told us about. Okay, we have to find them before more people get hurt."

"Whoa." Mason held a calming hand out at him as he took a nervous look around at the nearby people. "Calm down."

Liam took a deep breath. "Yeah...sorry. It's just, these guys Malia told us about, I think I might've seen them before."

"What?" Mason quickly gasped out. "Where?"

Liam let his back lean against the lockers and rested his head into the metal. He then started to tell him about the nightmare he had a few nights ago. Of seeing animal carcasses splattered everywhere with parts of the bodies missing. And then seeing a wolf of mixed limbs, as well as other...things made up of animal parts sewn together. Then of the three metal men that were with them.

"And you really think it was them you saw?" Mason asked him.

Liam nodded. "Yeah. And the last time I had a dream like this was right before Scott and Kira were kidnapped and taken to Mexico."

"Have you told them yet?" Liam's silence was all the answer he needed. "Maybe you should."

Liam bounced the back of his head from the locker at that. He knew Mason was right. The last time something like this happened. he had stayed quiet. But, would Scott listen to him? What was he even supposed to say? He was worried because he had a nightmare that may have included these masked men? Before he could dwell more on it two kids, a girl and a guy, came into his sights. They came over and stopped next to him and Mason. Liam knew the girl. She was a junior and had noticed her in the halls a couple of times.

"Hey you're on the lacrosse team. It's Liam, right?" the girl asked him.

He nodded. "Yeah."

"I'm Gwen," she said to him. "This is Michael," she said introducing her friend. "Do you know where Scott is?"

He immediately straightened up. "Why?" he asked, his tone a bit defensive. After the last week, he was feeling quite tense and alert.

"Well, the two of us want to try out for the lacrosse team this year. We would've gone to Coach Finstock but he's..."

"Gone," Liam finished.

Everyone knew the story. Coach had relapsed and started drinking again before school ended last semester. He had left to go back to rehab.

"Yeah, so that's why we need to find Scott. We know you hang around him a lot so I was hoping you could help us out."

"You want me to talk to him about helping with you with tryouts?"

"Couldn't hurt," Michael chimed in. His tone then started getting a bit spiteful. "Seeing as how we already tried talking to him and got nowhere."

Liam narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"A few days ago, Gwen and I went up and asked him about how we could make the team and he told us to meet him on the field after school to see what we can do. And he completely blew us off." He seemed to get a little pissed at the end. Even Gwen seemed a bit aggravated.

"What?" Liam was shocked.

Michael's jaw tightened. "We must've waited at the field for an hour. He never showed up. Probably was laughing about it."

That didn't sound at all like Scott and was about to accuse them of lying. But then he thought of what Michael said about the timing. It sounded like this happened right when 'chimeras' started showing up. "Hey, I'm sure Scott didn't mean to do that. He's kind of been a little busy lately," Liam said to them.

Mason ducked his head down to roll his eyes. "Understatement," he muttered to himself.

Liam had heard him and gave him a small kick at his heel. "Look, the point is that Scott probably got sidetracked and just forgot about meeting with you guys."

"Well can you help talk to him this time?" Gwen asked him. "If we want to get a shot of making the team then we need his help. He is the captain after all."

"Co-captain," he corrected.

"Co-captain?" Gwen repeated back. "Well, who's the other one then?"

Liam turned to share a look with Mason.

Stiles and Malia walked through the doors and he checked his watch and saw that there was just about ten minutes until his and Malia's next class. He was a little worried they would be late as after they left the hospital, they took a detour to Lydia's house to get bestiary.

"So, we're meeting with Scott and Kira in the library after our last class," he said as they walked down the halls together.

"Yeah, I know." She looked down at the book in Stiles' arms. "Do you think there might be anything in there about the men in masks?"

He doubted it. Stiles guessed the bestiary had as much about the masked men as it did about werewolves with talons or serpent tails. "Maybe," he shrugged.

They crossed around a corner and their eyes lit up when they saw Liam heading right for them with Mason and two others kids, a guy and a girl, that they didn't recognize.

"Stiles, do you have a minute?" he asked as he came up to him with everyone.

"Why, what's up?" Stiles asked as he looked at each one of them.

The girl stepped around to face him. "I'm Gwen, this is my friend Michael," she said pointing out the other one before looking back at him. "You're the other co-captain for the lacrosse team, right?"

"Yeah, I am?" he said a little slowly.

"We were wondering if you could help us."

Stiles straightened up. "How can I help?"

* * *

 **3:00 pm**

"Hey Lori."

Lori looked away from her locker to see that her brother Brett was going over to her, separating from some of his lacrosse teammates.

"Brett, hey, what's up?"

"You doing anything tonight?"

"No, not really. Why?"

"Well, I'm heading over to Sinema later tonight. I was wondering if you wanted to come with."

"To Sinema?" Lori was surprised. Brett hardly ever invited her when he went off to go clubbing. Not that she minded. It wasn't really her scene. "I don't know."

"Liam's going to be there," he said in a sing song like tone.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Shut up," she grumbled at him. "You don't know what you're talking about."

He then burst out laughing. "Oh come on. It's pretty obvious you're crushing on the guy. Hell, even Mason saw it when we were off with them the other night.

Lori moved to run her hand over her face. "Oh god," she said, feeling embarrassed. She then moved to close her locker and began to head on out.

Brett followed along beside her. "Relax, I'm sure Liam is clueless, not surprisingly." He mumbled that last part. "Look I don't see what you find so appealing about that IED. You could do way better."

She stopped walking and turned to face him. "What, you rather I go for one of your airhead teammates?" she countered. Brett made a show of looking like he was considering it and Lori moved to give his shoulder a whack. "Liam's a great guy, and you know it, even if you don't want to admit it Brett." That made her brother stubbornly look off the other way. "He tried to help his friends save you when those two assassins tried to kill you, even though you were a complete ass to him before and during the game. He didn't need to do that, but he did. And he helped save our whole pack shutting the Deadpool down. Would any of those friends of yours done that?" Lori then smiled. "And I've always thought he was a little cute."

"Lori," he pleaded.

She kept going. "These last six months though, he's gotten even hotter. Especially right after training, how his bare muscled arms and legs glisten. Those tight cheekbones and pecs and abs when they peak out from under his shirt," she sighed out dreamily. "Then there's his butt."

Brett quickly moved to cover his ears. "La, la, la, la! Okay!" he said, trying to drown out her words.

She laughed a bit at her brother's antics before the both of them sobered up a bit after a moment.

"So, are you coming?" he asked her again. "Mason said he was going tonight and he was going to try and bring Liam too."

"Really? After all that, you're still inviting me?"

"I still think your taste in guys could be better but...I suppose it could be worse. If he shows up, you could go and get him alone and then try and make your move."

She silently considered it for a moment before she nodded. "Alright, I'll be there." She then snorted. "And I wouldn't be so judgmental. Your taste in girls or guys is hardly something to be proud of." Lori shook her head and took off for the exit to the parking lot.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he said, going after her.

"Figure it out, if you can."

"Ooh, nice comeback,' he threw at her.

"Yeah, I thought so," she shrugged.

"Seriously?" they both heard suddenly. The two wolf siblings stopped and looked over to see Wilson walking over to them with him shaking his head and his hands resting on his hips. "Can I ever have one time where I meet you two at school and you're not already fighting or end up in a fight?"

"No," they said together nonchalantly.

He shook his head at them amusingly before his expression got serious. "Listen, are the two of you going out tonight?"

Brett nodded. "Yeah, we going out into town. Might meet with Liam and his friend Mason later." He threw a playful look Lori's way which earned him a small shove with her elbow. "Something up Wilson?"

"Maybe," he sighed out. The grim feeling he felt earlier as he was heading into the school coming back to him. "Just keep your chins up, especially when you are around Scott McCall's pack."

"Why?" Lori asked, concerned.

"With everything going on with these strange shapeshifters appearing, we can't let our guard down. And, it seems that they Scott and his pack are in their sights right now, but there is a chance they might also target us soon enough. So watch out for anything that looks or feels out of place."

"In this town?" Brett threw in skeptically.

"Even for this town. Trust your instincts and theirs if they flare up."

"Okay," they both nodded.

They moved to head out the door but Wilson followed after them.

"One last thing," he said making them stop to look back at him. "You guys ever meet that new guy hanging around their pack. Theo, I think his name is."

"Uh, no but Liam has mentioned him," said Lori.

Brett nodded. Liam had told them that he and Stiles had followed him into the woods which was how he had found the hole Tracy had dug herself out of. "Why?"

But Wilson shook his head. "Nothing. Don't worry about. Now go, I think your friends are waiting," he said, pointing his chin out.

Lori and Brett turned and they quickly spotted their group of teammates and friends gathered and patiently waiting off at a corner of the parking lot.

"See you later Wilson," Brett said as he and his sister started to head off.

"Yeah, be safe," he told them.

"We will," said Lori before they started to go into a small jog to meet with everyone.

Wilson spent a moment watching them go before he looked out at the parking lot. The feeling that he had felt out here before still bothered him. It was like he was being watched and stalked. And he still felt a small tingle of it now.

As he headed back inside, a girl was tapping her fingers along the top of her steering wheel, watching him. She then grabbed her phone and moved to send a text.

* * *

 **3:30 pm**

Stiles watched as Gwen began to run for the goal to try and get the ball passed Liam, who was helping him with the tryout. After hearing their story, Stiles told Gwen and Michael that he would see what they could do then and there if they wanted. They both said yes and he told them that he would meet them on the field after he changed. Since it would just be them, he couldn't give them a full tryout but would see how they fared on their shots. Stiles also covered for Scott with them and explained that he wouldn't have meant to ditch them but had been called in to work and must've accidentally forgot to tell them, which he knew was more or less true considering everything that was happening. He gave the bestiary to Malia and asked her to explain to Scott and Kira that he would be by a little later.

Gwen's shot had managed to slip through Liam's block and hit the net. It had been her fifth attempt and Stiles nodded.

"Nice shot," he said to her afterwards.

"Really?" she panted out as she ripped her helmet off.

"Yeah, really. It's not easy to get passed Liam, right?" he said looking over at him.

"Definitely," Liam said back with a small grin.

Her previous four tries, though she didn't score, they had been pretty close. To score against a werewolf with speed and sharper reflexes wasn't easy but Gwen did. They may have just found a good new addition to first line.

"What about me?" Michael called out from where he stood. He sounded a little nervous and both the wolves could smell how anxious he was.

Michael had gone before Gwen, shooting a set of five against Liam. He hadn't managed to score one goal where three of his shots had been caught by Liam. As for his other two, one of them he had made hit the post and the other overshot and flew over the goal. But, he'd seen worse. He and Scott had been worse. With a bit more work, Michael could end up being a pretty good player.

"You're actually not too bad," Stiles answered sincerely. "You just need to work on your aiming and control when you shoot. With a little more practice I think you might have something." Michael's eyes brightened up a bit. "I'll talk to Scott for when we can hold the official tryouts for the team. But, until then keep practicing because we'll be watching out for you guys. Especially you Gwen."

She smiled widely. "Thanks. I can't wait to go and tell my sister."

She and Michael then moved to grab their stuff and head out leaving Stiles and Liam watching after them.

"Not bad there co-captain," Liam said to him.

"Co-captain," Stiles repeated almost to himself.

Him, co-captain of the team. Even after six months, he still had some trouble believing it. It seemed like only yesterday when his place on the team was to warm the bench. Him and Scott, co-captains. Who would've thought it? He sure wouldn't have.

Liam saw that Stiles seemed lost in thought before he suddenly let out a big yawn out of nowhere. "You okay?"

"Huh?" he gasped as he moved to rub at his eyes. "Uh, yeah. I'm good."

"Have you been having trouble sleeping lately?"

"I always have trouble sleeping," Stiles shrugged but he noticed that Liam seemed bothered. "Why? Have you?"

"Uh well, kinda," he admitted a bit awkwardly. "Forget it, it's stupid."

"Liam, I can feel how worried you are. What's going on?" asked Stiles in concern.

He didn't want to sound like he was being silly, worrying about some nightmare, especially with so much going on right now. But, last time something like this happened, Stiles hadn't thought it silly or stupid. He'd taken what he told him seriously. And Mason had said he should try tell the others about it. Maybe he could trust Stiles.

"Well, you remember how I told you about that crazy dream I had before Scott and Kira were kidnapped?"

Stiles nodded. "The one with the nemeton?"

"Yeah, well, a few nights ago, I had another one. It felt just like the other one had, and its been freaking me out."

"You saw the nemeton again?"

Liam shook his head. "No, but, I think I saw the three that Malia ran into at the station."

"The men in masks?" Liam nodded. "What did they look like?"

Liam then began to tell him about the three he saw and it seemed to match Malia's description. And Liam had this dream before they first appeared. Stiles guessed that Liam's instincts must've sensed danger coming for the pack, like before, and was trying to warn him about it. He then told him the other details of the dream and from the sound of it, it seemed like these masked men might be the ones 'making' these supernaturals. And, when Liam told him of the wolf he dreamt, made from parts of other wolves stitched together, he felt a hard chill run down his spine.

"What do you think it all means?" Liam asked him after he was done.

"I'm not sure." _Yet_ , he silently added. "But we have to keep our eyes open. Thanks for telling me about this Liam."

He nodded. "So what do we do now?"

"Well, Scott, Kira and Malia are waiting for me back at the library. Why don't you go home?"

"Can't I go with you?"

"We're just going to be going over the bestiary and other lore. C'mon, it's Friday night. Don't you have anything planned?"

He shrugged. "Well, Mason invited me to go with this club tonight."

"Awesome, go."

"No, I should stay and help."

"You've helped out enough. Go and have some fun."

Liam let out a heated sigh but found himself nodding. "Alright."

* * *

 **4:00 pm**

Theo was making his way into the Doctors' lair to go and retrieve Donovan. Courtney was trailing behind him, giving the place a nervous look over.

"This place is beyond creepy. Maybe I should go back and wait in the car," she timidly suggested.

"It's fine," he said dismissively to her. "We'll be in and out. It's just around the corner." He then stopped and turned to face her. "It'll be okay, I promise," he said gently and almost affectionately to her.

She took a deep breath and then nodded. He then headed off into the lab with Courtney a step behind him.

Theo had to admit that he was surprised that Courtney seemed content enough to listen to him without much hesitation or resistance. He felt that was because he not only made her feel strong and significant with this new change but she also found him attractive. Tracy seemed to had been the same way before she was eliminated. Tracy and Courtney were both cute but not really his type. Still, he would milk the loyalty it got him for all it was worth if it helped him get what he wanted.

After he staked out Devenford with Courtney earlier, he had left her there to keep watch. He warned her to stay far enough away to not be picked up by any of three werewolves who were around. She followed his orders to a T and sent him a text warning him that Wilson Grant had thrown his name out to the two beta kids that went there. If he wanted to avoid having more werewolves on his back then he had to move forward with the plan.

As they stepped through the lab, Courtney's eyes fell on a plastic capsule to the side, filled with a bubbling green liquid, and had a person inside it. "Is that guy dead?"

He stopped and gave the guy a small look. "No, but he's really alive either."

"Who is he?"

"Oh trust me, you don't want to know. Now, come one. He's just through that door."

Yet before they could take more than one more step, Courtney gasped out as the three doctors stepped into the room from the three different ways in. The Pathologist came in from where they did, the Geneticist came out from the room ahead and the Surgeon stepped out through the door at the top of the stairs. Courtney looked scared but Theo remained calm and rose his hands up as he looked up at the Surgeon.

"It's okay. I'm just going to borrow him for a bit," he told him.

The Surgeon tilted his head at him before he looked up at Courtney. "You already have one."

Theo rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, I need another one. And its not like you're using him anyways," he said, turning to look at the others. "Keeping him strapped to a chair. Or any of them."

He faced both the Geneticist and the Pathologist before turning to look back at the Surgeon but jumped slightly as the doctor was now just a few feet from him. Theo tried to not to be so intimidated in front of Courtney but he still looked a bit nervous. The Surgeon just stared at Theo for a moment before he looked over at Courtney. She started to back away but had gone right into the Pathologist, who moved to hold her still as the Surgeon approached her. He tilted his head at her while she breathed quickly and deeply.

"Her condition appears stable," he grunted out in his muffled voice. He then turned to look at Theo. "Do as you wish."

"Thank you," he said with a glare. He then looked over at the Pathologist. "Do you mind letting her go now?"

The Pathologist released her and she quickly moved over to stand behind Theo. The three doctors then slowly began to leave the lab and head out into the tunnels.

"Can we just grab him and get the hell out of here now," Courtney gasped at him.

Theo moved for where Donovan was still bound in his chair, still sweating and shaking a bit but he seemed to settle when he laid his eyes on him. At a nod from Theo, Courtney began moving to unbind him.

"Let's go," Theo said to him with a calm smile. "It's time to grab you a bite to eat."

* * *

 **6:30 pm**

Cora was standing out in the backyard of a fancy house that was filled with dozens of teenagers, a good many she had seen from school. She couldn't help but feel that she just stepped into a cliche party scene in any teen movie. There was a pool with some people swimming around and there was booze everywhere with music filling the air. She turned around to see Ruben heading to her with a cup in each hand.

"Here you go," he said as he handed one to her.

She looked down at the punch that she could smell was spiked with some scotch or vodka. Cora went and took a sip and felt a bit of a buzz as it went down her throat before vanishing in a moment as her healing factor kicked in.

"I'm glad you decided to come," Ruben told her before moving to take a sip from his cup.

"Well, the jury is still out on how I feel about it," she slurred out.

Ruben snorted in his cup. "Funny and cute, wow."

A small smile cracked its way through her hard exterior. "So, how'd you hear about this party?" she asked, trying to make some conversation.

"Oh, I pretty connected around here, Well, the basketball team was invited and I've known most of them my whole life. And the guy who lives here, I tutored him in history last year. Managed to help him get his grade up almost a whole letter."

"Wow, those are some connections," she said as she moved to drink more from her cup.

"Yeah...well I'm kind of hoping to make a new connection tonight. Maybe you could help me with that?" he asked suggestively.

She rose her eyebrow at him. "Does that line usually work for you?"

"First time," he said with a smile. "So, what's your story? Where'd you move here from?" he asked with a small smile.

She wasn't in the mood to talk about herself but Ruben wasn't prying. He was simply curious. Cora could understand that. After all, she was the new girl that no one knew anything about in a school filled with kids who've known each other for many years.

"California." she muttered.

"Cool. Like Los Angeles or San Francisco?"

She shook her head. "No, nothing like that. Just a small little town. I doubt you would've heard of it."

"Why your parents move you here?"

At his question, Cora's jaw tightened a bit. "No, it's just me and my brother." Memories of her mother and Laura came back to her and she felt some old pain slipping through.

Her being upset must've been obvious because Ruben quickly became apologetic. "Oh, I'm sorry if I said something wrong," he quickly told her.

But she stopped him. "No, no, it's alright. You didn't know."

The air around them got awkward as Cora moved her gaze off to see a guy from the basketball team scream like an idiot before he ran to throw himself in the pool with all his clothes on and make a big splash.

"Uh, well let me make it up to you. Can I walk you to school on Monday?"

She looked over at the hope that stirred up in his eyes and scent and she found herself nodding. "Sure."

Back at the loft, Maggie was making soft cooing sounds over the baby basket set up in the middle of the living room. Little Jason Hale was laughing and gurgling at her and she was smiling and laughing in kind. She then lifted her head to look over at Derek, who was staring hard-faced out the tall windows to the side.

She rolled her eyes at his back. "Are you just going to stand there and sulk all night long?"

"I'm not sulking," Derek said lightly, not moving his gaze from out the window.

"Well I know you're not being taken by the view." She could practically see him roll his eyes through the back of his head. "Derek, stop being a complete sour puss," she said in slight amusement.

That made Derek finally turn away and look over at her. "Really? You have to call me that?" That was too close to what a young annoying, spastic boy liked calling him. A sour wolf.

Maggie rose her eyebrows at him. "It got you to finally look away, didn't it?" she pointed out. She then sighed and smile tiredly at him. "Relax, Cora will be fine. It's just a party. I happen to know that you went to them all the time back home. Laura," she explained further.

"Which is why I'm worried. She went with a boy," he argued back.

"So?"

Derek narrowed his eyes at her. "So, I think I have a good reason to sulk. Considering what happened the last time Cora was off by herself with a boy."

Right then and there, Maggie picked herself up from where she was kneeling and folded her arms at him. "You make it sound like she snuck off behind your back and got knocked up on purpose. Derek, she was grieving, hurt and left alone for days. That wasn't her fault, was it?" she said pointedly.

Derek deflated and stared hard, back out the window. He knew that Maggie was right. That hadn't been Cora's fault. Boyd had just been killed and the two of them had been close due to their time being held captive by the Alpha pack. She was hurt and Stiles was her only source of comfort which she had thrown herself to. He should be able to relate and had no right to judge her. After all, he'd done the same thing with both Kate and Jennifer when he had been hurt and grieving. At least Stiles had genuinely cared about her and wanted to help while Kate and Jennifer were just using him.

Maggie then let a sigh as she had no doubt hit an old sore spot. "Derek, I'm sorry," she quickly muttered.

He cut her off. "No, no I deserved that."

"True, but…just try not to sulk around Jason so much. We wouldn't want him to pick up any of his uncle's bad habits. Isn't that right Jason?" she asked the baby in a low, teasing tone while she moved her index finger to tickle at his stomach.

Jason responded with a high pitched laugh as she tried to grab at her finger with his left hand. She laughed with how cute he sounded and looked. For her, Hale men always seemed more handsome when they were calm and happy rather than sad and sullen.

Hearing his nephew's laughing made the tension Derek was feeling abate a bit. "Traitor," he muttered under his breath, as a small smile was cracking through. But he then went back to staring out the window with a concerned look on his face.

She stood up and headed to stand next to him. "I'm going to take a wild guess and say that Cora isn't the only thing you're worried about."

He sighed and moved to go and sit down on the couch. Maggie moved to throw herself beside him.

"I got a call from Scott earlier. He and his friends are having some trouble back in Beacon Hills. Unusual trouble."

She nodded. "Yeah, the strange shapeshifters. Last night, Alan Deaton called and told me about them."

Derek perked up at the news of the town vet and pack emissary. "He called you?"

"He's leaving Beacon Hills to investigate some old rumors about unusual shapeshifters that popped up over twenty years ago in Russia. He thinks there might be some clues that might have answers to what is going on in Beacon Hills. He contacted me to find out how to get in touch with Zeke Astor."

He narrowed his eyes. "Zeke Astor? Wait, as in...Riley Astor?"

"Yeah, his little brother."

Derek vaguely remembered Riley. He had been around 13 when he had first met him. It had been the first time he had ever seen a Garuda. He remembered thinking that it was one of the coolest things ever to see a guy sprout wings and take to the sky like a bird. Riley had always been nice to him though he guessed it helped that he and Laura had dated soon after they had met. But, he had been killed, a little over two years before the fire.

"How old is he now?"

"He's twenty. Last I heard, he was going to college somewhere around Washington."

"Is he like his brother?" he softly asked. Maggie nodded. Zeke was a garuda too. "What happened to him?"

"After Riley died, Zeke was placed in the foster system. They were all either had left." She turned to look out towards the windows. "When you two first came here after the fire, Laura wanted to reach out to him."

"She did?" He didn't know that.

"Yeah. Asked for my help too and together we found him after a year of looking. But, Zeke wasn't in the best of places when we did. He seemed to be always getting into trouble. Running away and bouncing around from one foster home to another."

"And what does Deaton want with him?"

"Turns out one of the shapeshifters that Scott and his pack brought down had talons. Riley's talons."

"What? How is that possible?"

"When Riley was killed, his killer went on and tore his wings and talons from his body and took them."

Derek let a small growl loose from his throat. Ripping body parts from a victim after killing them. That sounded like someone taking them for a trophy. He could only think of one set of people that would do that. "Hunters?"

"That's what Laura thought. That's why Zeke was acting out. He wanted to find his brother's killers and make them pay. Laura wanted to help him in any way she could so she stayed in contact with him. Called him and sent e-mails whenever she could. It seemed to make actually start making a difference with Zeke. He started to get better with his home life and gradually start settling a bit. And Laura...I think it helped her not only get better after the fire, but start moving passed an older and still painful chapter of her past. At least until..."

She didn't want to finish but she didn't have to. Derek understood. Until her death.

Derek started shaking his head. "I had no idea. For five years...why didn't Laura ever say anything?" he said in a small voice.

"You were kinda going through a lot back then."

"Like I always seem to be," he said a little resentfully. First with Laura and then Cora. His sisters go through hard and emotional pain right in front of him and he was so caught up in himself and his own problems that he only seemed to notice theirs long after its too late. "Typical."

"Hey." Maggie then went to put her hand on his shoulder. "Derek, you're trying your best to try and take care of Cora. I can see that and I know if Laura and your mom were here, they would agree with me. But, while I can't speak for your mother, I'm pretty sure that Laura would say that you would do even better if you went and finally got over yourself."

Derek let a small chuckle break free from him which made Maggie laugh a bit herself.

"Yeah, you're probably right." He then moved to smile at her. "Thanks Maggie."

At that, he went to engulf her in a tight hug. For a couple of seconds, they thought nothing of it. But as it dragged on, Maggie began to lean into the feel of Derek's strong arms wrapped around her and rub her hands up and down his strong back. As for Derek, he started to take in the smell of the maple scented shampoo in her hair and the feel of her soft skin as her face rubbed against his neck. The two of them slowly pulled their faces away but still had each other in their arms. They just stared, keeping their eyes locked on to one another for what could've been a minute or an hour. Neither Derek or Maggie looked away until they suddenly found themselves getting pulled back towards each other. A sudden bout of crying rang out when their noses were an inch away from each other and they snapped apart.

"Uh, what's wrong Jason?" Maggie said moving over to him.

Derek wrinkled his nose. "I think he needs a change," he coughed out.

* * *

 **7:30 pm**

The halls of Devenford were pretty quiet now. Any and all student clubs and activities were over and the students had gone home, to enjoy their friday nights. He was the only security guard left on duty so it fell to him to make sure that the school was closed up and secured for the weekend. Wilson was going through the halls, making sure the offices were locked and the lights in the classrooms were off. His footsteps echoed through the empty halls as he walked through them. As he turned a corner, he stopped when he heard the sound light steps being made. He guessed there was still a student or two still around.

"Hello?" he called out.

No one responded, but he heard those steps moving along the halls, a bit fast paced. It sounded like they were running. He moved to go after them and came upon the stairs around where the sound stopped. He didn't see anyone around. Or hear anything. He let his hearing expand and he could hear a soft, steady heartbeat sounding somewhere on the floor above. It seemed whoever was around was trying to be silent, not even move and could feel a hint of amusement drifting through the air.

Now Wilson was getting impatient. "I know there's someone there," he called out. "If this is a joke, it isn't funny and it's over. Come out and let me see you." Nothing happened but Wilson could still feel someone there. "I won't be asking again. If I have to come after you, I will," he called out.

There was suddenly a whip of air behind him and Wilson's flashed gold before he turning around but saw no one there. There was someone else. Someone fast. And Wilson began to feel the same presence from the woods last night, before he ran into Stiles. He narrowed his eyes before throwing his hands down and brought his claws out. But as Wilson turned around, Donovan, the one who had been hiding on the floor above, quickly descended the stairs and threw himself at Wilson from behind. But, Wilson threw himself to the side and they got nothing but air. He had felt the attack coming and dodged it.

"Nice try," he growled as he stomped for the young man. Wilson grabbed Donovan at his collar and yanked him to his feet. "Who are you?!" he demanded.

Donovan didn't answer but his eyes flew from Wilson to over his shoulder. Wilson noticed and turned around to find Courtney running for them, revealing her as the one that had ran behind him. Once Wilson looked over at her, Donovan bared his sharp teeth and bit at Wilson's hand holding him. He roared out in pain as he let him go and pulled himself away. Courtney had her long needle claws out and moved to swipe at him but Wilson bared his pain and ducked out of the way before sending his palm right into her side and knocked her off her feet. Wilson took a moment to look at his bleeding hand where he could see the bite marks dug into it and looked up to see that blood was dripping from Donovan's lips.

Courtney got back to her feet and move to stand next to Donovan and they stared the werewolf down. Wilson glared at her, as he realized that she must've been who he had been tracking last night.

"Who are you two?!" he growled.

The two of them didn't answer. Courtney simply extended her hands to show the sets of long, thin claws on both of them. As she did, Donovan showed his sharp teeth and a hole opened at the side of his neck where a set of teeth showed themselves before it quickly disappeared again. Wilson resisted the urge to gasp in shock at them. He had his answer. He grunted as he fully shifted and roared hard at them.

The two young chimeras flinched at the sight and sound of a real werewolf in front of them and Wilson took the moment and charged for them. The two of them tried to claw and land a blow on him but Wilson proved more than formidable. While the chimeras had the advantage of surprise and numbers, Wilson had the advantage of experience and greater strength over them. Also Courtney and Donovan were still not quite used to their new powers yet. They threw themselves at Wilson, overwhelming him a bit but their strikes were either hitting air or just grazing him when they did connect. Wilson rammed Donovan and threw a hard punch at him with his injured hand before he ducked from Courtney's attempt to claw at his face. Her claws missed and cut right into the drywall, leaving four thin lines cut into it. Wilson quickly threw a hard kick at her leg, making her cry out in pain before he grabbed at her head and threw her back, making her slide a few feet down the floor.

Donovan felt a tingle in his hand and saw that a set of jaws appeared in his palm. He huffed as he got to his feet and charged for Wilson, trying to go for the werewolf's face. Wilson reached up and grabbed at his wrist, stopping his hand a foot from his face. He thought he'd seen a lot since becoming a werewolf but was still thrown at the sight of teeth in the palm of a hand. He looked down to see Donovan smirk at him before he brought his palm down to grab at Wilson's wrist. He held on tight to him as his teeth bit right through to the bone. Wilson gasped out in pain and tried to pull away but Donovan hung on, determined to make sure he couldn't get away again.

Donovan snarled at him as he could feel the werewolf's flesh and blood pouring into him from his hand. "Mmm, tangy," he breathed at him.

Wilson glared at him before he used his other hand to swipe at Donovan's face. The boy cried out as he felt the pain of his face being clawed and jumped back, letting Wilson go. Donovan stumbled as he moved his hand to apply pressure to his cheek, trying to stem the blood gushing from the four fresh claw wounds on his face. Yet, as Wilson struck Donovan back, Courtney leapt forward and jammed her needle claws right into the beta's stomach. At Wilson's pained yell, she looked up, ready to sneer at him, only to witness a fist flying at her just a second before it made impact at the side of her head.

"Bitch," Wilson spat as he struck Courtney and then moved to yank her hand back and force her claws to remove themselves from him.

Courtney was forced on one knee but Wilson grabbed her top's collar and lifted her into the air and threw her off. She flew into the air and collided right into Donovan, who was still whimpering as he tried to nurse his clawed face. They stumbled down into a heap on the floor and Wilson took the moment to look down at himself. Five small holes were at the stomach section of his uniform from where Courtney stabbed him with her needle claws and spots of red were steadily growing at each one. It hurt but the biggest pain came from the missing chunk of flesh at his wrist. It burned and blood was pouring steadily down on the floor like a leaky faucet. He tried to flex his fingers but it proved difficult and painful.

There was groaning and Wilson looked up to see that the two chimeras were getting back to their feet. Once up, they stood side by side, facing down Wilson with intensive looks of hunger and bloodlust overtaking them. Courtney let out a bark of anger before starting rub her claws together, in a manner he'd seen in his favorite Freddy Krueger movies. Donovan brought his bloodied palm out to display the horrifying fanged jaws still in the middle of them, snarling to display the same kind of sharp teeth in his mouth. The two shared a look with each other before they started to slowly approach him together, just like predators stalking their wounded gazelle. Wilson started to slowly back away, down the hall. Wilson didn't think he could beat them like this, not with only one good arm. And he was starting to grow tired. The best thing he felt he could do was get away and hold himself up somewhere so he could focus his energy and strength on healing himself.

He then turned around, ready to begin running, but stopped when he saw something. It was...a wolf. It calmly making its way to him through the dimly lit hallway. Wilson was frozen at the incongruous sight before him as the wolf stopped right in front of him and then lit its eyes deep gold as they stared at each other. Wilson turned to see that Donovan and Courtney had stopped moving and seemed to be watching the sight before them. Yet, when Wilson looked back, the wolf was gone. Instead, there was a naked teenager standing just a foot in front of him.

Theo had been watching the whole debacle from a safe and secure distance in his wolf form the entire time. Yet, he started to realize that the two fresh chimeras couldn't beat Wilson and when it seemed the guy would actually escape, he knew he had to step in. He dashed down the opposite hall, cutting off the Second from escaping, and appeared to be shocking him with his animal form. He saw him look away and then quickly transformed back to his human form to handle this himself. Before Wilson could recover from his surprise, Theo grunted and bared his teeth before he moved and swiped his claws right across Wilson's throat, splattering his blood across the the nearby wall. Wilson's uninjured hand went right for his throat as Theo lifted his hand to reveal some pieces of Wilson's torn out vocal cords. He gurgled on his own blood for a moment before he collapsed and fell into a dead heap on the floor.

Neither of the three knew that, in that moment, his death was felt in the hearts of every member of his pack, including Brett and Lori at Sinema, during another Chimera's attack.

Theo went to thrust his hand down and throw the torn flesh down to the ground beside the corpse before looking up over at Donovan. "Dig in," he told him.

Donovan's eyes flashed a pale white before he went and dove right for the body with his teeth bared out.

* * *

 **9:30 pm**

Ruben was walking into his home after having dropped Cora home first. His mother was the only one home, with his father still not home from work. She greeted him as he came in and asked if he had a fun time and he smiled and nodded at her. He had a small smile on his face all the way inside as he headed off for his room. Yet, once he stepped into his bedroom, his face fell when he saw that there was already someone there. He was sitting at the edge of his bed, just waiting and he rose his head as he entered.

"Nice night Ruben?"

"Dean," he hissed. Ruben quickly moved to close the door, in case his mother was able to hear anything. The last thing he needed was to stumble upon having a stranger in his room, especially a werewolf stranger. "What are you doing here?"

"Just checking on your progress." He then moved to stand. "You were with the Hale girl tonight, right?"

"Yeah, I was. I took her to a party."

"And? Did she say anything about herself."

"No, not really."

"She doesn't suspect that you know about her? About what she is."

He shook his head. "No."

"Is she

"She's been a little hesitant but after tonight I think she's slowly starting to warm up to me. I'm walking her to school on Monday."

Dean nodded. "That's good. Don't let up. Steadily make her comfortable and gradually feel that you are safe to open up to. Let me know if she ever says anything about her home life or her family."

He headed off for the open window, so that he could go and leap out of it, but Ruben stopped him.

"Dean, what is the big deal about this girl?" Dean stopped and turned slowly to look at him. "Not that I'm complaining," he said quickly, worried that he had upset the guy. "Cora's cute and I am kinda into her, but why do you want me to spy on her? Can't you do it? I mean, she is one of you, right?"

"That's none of your concern Ruben. The only thing you should be worried about is keeping an eye on that girl and nitpick at news about her family, especially on her son and who the father might be. Understand?" he said a little harshly. His tone made Ruben shrink back a bit and Dean gave it a moment before he smiled calmly at him. "Hey, relax. Everything will be fine. And remember what is waiting for you if you succeed. Your reward if you help me and my pack."

He finished with a flash of his blue lupine eyes before he went and threw himself out the window. Ruben ran over to the window but saw no sign of Dean anywhere. He let out a deep sigh and pulled his head back in.

* * *

 **10:00 pm**

Theo was hiding off in a distant corner of the school grounds, but he had a good view of the parking lot where Stiles' blue jeep was parked. Next to him was Donovan, with his lips still stained with the blood from what was left of Wilson Grant's corpse. Donovan went and ran his fingers at his cheek, amazed to feel smooth, unblemished skin. The scratch ohe'd gotten from the werewolf during the attack had healed itself away, with not a trace as if it didn't happen.

Donovan looked down at his watch, seeing the time. "We've been standing out here for almost an hour. Where the hell is he?" he asked impatiently.

"Probably still in the library. Scott told me that was where they all were when he left earlier."

"Well what the heck's he doing in there for so long?"

"Calm down." Theo kept his eyes out on the parking lot and the front entrance through the whole of Donovan's rant. "He'll be out soon. Just wait a little bit longer."

Donovan let loose a small growl under his throat as he went to lean his back against the wall. "Whatever."

"You still doing okay?" Theo asked, not in concern for Donovan's well-being, but for the sake of the plan.

Donovan's lips curved into a predatory smirk. "Okay? I'm doing great. The pain and the shakes are all gone."

"That's not surprising. Wendigos are always at their strongest right after they've fed on human flesh."

Donovan looked down at his hand and clenched it into a hard fist and opened it again. "And I feel even stronger than I did before."

Theo cracked a small smirk. "That's because you fed on the flesh of a werewolf. Feasting on a shapeshifter's flesh can not only give a Wendigo back their strength but increase it. Like they say: We are what we eat. You're now much stronger than you were before."

Donovan saw a fanged jaw appear in his palm and he then moved to clench his hand, before he slammed it into the nearby wall. It left an indent the size of his fist and he smiled as he found that he barely felt a thing. "Then I can't wait to see how much stronger I'll get after I chow down on Stilinski's pathetic, idiot son." He could still feel his blood pumping from the fight with the security guard. Feasting on his flesh was invigorating and Donovan could feel his mouth water at the thought of chomping down on Stiles' flesh next.

Theo finally broke his eye contact on the entrance to narrow his eyes at Donovan starting to drool. "Don't underestimate Stiles."

Donovan sucked at his fanged teeth. "I'm not scared of him."

It looked like Donovan was feeling overconfident and Theo knew that would spell trouble. "You should be. He's a whole lot smarter and tougher than he looks or acts." _'Which is what makes him so dangerous'_ , he silently added.

That made Donovan glare at him. "What are trying to say?"

Theo rolled his eyes. "Stiles might be more than you can handle, even with you juiced up, that's what I'm saying."

"Screw you," Donovan spat at him, fully enraged at what Theo just said to him. "And you know what, screw all this sneaking around. I'm done waiting. I want Stiles now and if he's not coming out, then I'll go and get him in there."

Donovan expected Theo to argue with him some more, so he was truly surprised when Theo just shrugged.

"Fine. You don't want to listen to my advice, that's cool." He then dug into his pocket and pulled out his student ID. "Here. The library should be closed so you'll need this to let you in."

Donovan blinked but then moved and yanked it out of his hands. "Just don't get in the way. He's mine."

"Wouldn't dream of it. Enjoy." Theo then got up and moved to head on off.

"Oh, I will," he mumbled after him before he focused back on the entrance. "Every single second of it."

Yet, barely a moment later, the door starting to open and Donovan ducked into the shadows to see that Stiles was walking out through the doors, stretching a bit as he let out a yawn.

' _Really? Now you decide to show up?'_ he thought to himself in annoyance. But, it didn't matter. He would soon have what he always wanted. Ultimate payback for everything Stilinski had done to him and his father. On his palm, a jawed hand appeared, fangs sharp and watering for more werewolf flesh.

Stiles let out a small yawn before rubbing at his somewhat stiff neck. He still feeling a bit groggy from having passed out on the table for a few hours. As he loosened himself back up, he started to recall the strange dream he had while out.

He had been going through the woods, just wandering around aimlessly for what seemed like forever until he came face to face with a wolf. It had been different from the wolf he had seen and dreamt before. Not hulking or shaggy furred but smaller and its fur was sleek and well groomed. but it didn't make him feel worried or scared at all. It wasn't his 'wolf', something about it screamed female to him. It had just stood there, staring at him, and he had just stared right back. His honey brown eyes not once leaving its eyes as it went and shined a red glow. Staring at those eyes, Stiles had found himself feeling safe and content that he had lost track of how long they had been doing it. Only a beam of light hit them did Stiles finally break his gaze and look up. He saw that it was from the full moon and he realized that it had gotten dark. He then turned to find that the wolf was gone. Stiles stepped over and saw that it had left four paw prints dug into the dirt. They were filled with water, and he saw the light of the full moon reflected in them. That was when he had woken up.

Odd dream but at least it wasn't a scary one. He guessed that hearing about Liam's dream might have triggered it or something. But now, all Stiles wanted to do was just get back home and started for his jeep.

From where Theo had hidden himself, he could see that Donovan was moving to follow Theo's original plan to sneak up on Stiles. Donovan kept himself out of sight, watching as Stiles tried starting his jeep and then became frustrated as he went to open the hood and get hit with the smoke and smell of the burnt tape glue. Theo had gone and loosened one of the bolts earlier to set all this up. Not only would it keep Stiles there and distracted but it would keep his nose from picking up Donovan's scent as well as the smell of lingering blood still on him. As soon as Stiles was hit with the smoke, Theo saw Donovan begin to step out of his hiding spot and carefully move for him as Stiles was distracted. Theo smirked at Donovan's actions. First the guy wanted to throw his plan away and now he was following it to the letter, Theo would laugh if he wasn't worried that Stiles would hear him and blow this whole thing. But, right now, he would just stand back and enjoy the show.

Donovan closed in on Stiles as he brought out a wrench and was bent over his jeep's engine. He carefully moved in, trying not to do anything to alert him. Stiles was clueless as to what was about to happen as he saw the kid set the wrench down and grab a roll of duct tape. He didn't see what Theo was so worried about. Stiles seemed as stupid and pathetic as he always looked to him. Donovan raised his hand and slammed it down at the back of Stiles' collarbone, quickly tasting his sweet lupine flesh and blood.

Stiles let out a hard scream that echoed in the empty parking lot and his eyes flashed a very bright blue hue.

* * *

As the Dread Doctors moved along their hidden frequency after terminating Lucas, they suddenly stopped when they felt something pass through the air. They found themselves back in normal space, in the middle of an empty street. The three of them turned as one and looked out in the same direction. The Geneticist and Pathologist then turned to look at each other while the Surgeon kept staring ahead.

"That was a power shift," said the Geneticist. "It is close."

"There are two subjects close by," The Pathologist said back to him. "One is Subject 1."

The two of them then looked away from each other, back towards the Surgeon.

"What does this mean?" asked the Geneticist.

The Surgeon kept his poise before he looked down at the hilt of his cane and then tightened his grip on it. "A possible solution."

With that the Surgeon started walking off in a steady pace to the school. The other two following half a step behind him.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the same time, Cora was calmly reading a book for her English class in her room. She had gotten home over two hours ago from that party with Ruben. She had to admit, it wasn't…as bad as she feared. She wouldn't say she had a fun time, but it wasn't a terrible one either. Ruben had asked if he could take her out again sometime and Cora told him that maybe he could.

Right now, it was just her and Jason in the apartment. Her son had been sound asleep by the time she had gotten back home and had been put in his room. Derek had gone to drop Maggie off at her home and a small part of Cora was hoping that she wouldn't see her brother until sometime tomorrow though she knew it was highly unlikely. She knew her brother too well and she knew that Maggie didn't want to risk making the first move. Regardless, she would keep her fingers crossed.

Cora suddenly jumped when there was a loud bout of crying from Jason's room. It had come so unexpectedly and Cora's heart stopped, thinking that something was happening to her son. She dashed off and practically threw herself into the room, not knowing what to expect. The room was empty, nothing seemed wrong, but Jason was still crying his lungs out in his crib.

"Shh," she hissed out as she moved to pick him up. "What's wrong baby?" she asked him soothingly.

Jason just kept crying, even when Cora rocked him in her arms which always seemed to normally settle him down, he just kept wailing. As she rocked him, Cora's eyes fell over to the window, at the crescent moon outside, and she couldn't help but feel an urge to cry herself.

* * *

A/N: I apologize for how this chapter took longer than usual to get up. I had to rewrite several parts of it quite a few times before I was happy with it. I hope you find it was worth the wait. I will try to have the next chapter not take as long. After all, it comes with the clash between Stiles and Donovan. It will be slightly different, considering that Stiles is a werewolf now, but it still won't be easy for him, physically or emotionally. I also have a little moment between Liam and Lori planned following the aftermath of Wilson's death.


	13. A Novel Approach

Chapter 12: A Novel Approach

Stiles' scream rang out through the empty parking lot as he felt the teeth from Donovan's jawed palm digging into the back of his shoulder. His eyes shifted and let off their blue glow as he tried to pull himself away but Donovan pushed him against the hood of the jeep, pinning him down. Blood and bits of Stiles' flesh begin to get sucked into his palm and it felt just as sweet and quenching as the werewolf security guard he feasted on before.

Donovan leaned in close to him. "Your flesh tastes even sweeter than the last werewolf I ate," he grunted.

Donovan would prove to Theo that all his worry and doubt was garbage. It didn't matter that Stilinski's kid was a werewolf. He might've needed help with than one werewolf from before, but he was now strong enough to pin Stiles all by himself. He didn't need any more help, especially from Theo. And after he ate this spastic runt, he would become even stronger. Strong enough to get rid of that rip off and eat Theo's smug face and tear those three masked men that tortured him and kept him locked up apart. No one would get in his way ever again.

Stiles tried to throw him off, but Donovan's tempered strength was successfully keeping Stiles pinned and his other arm flailed around helplessly, failing to reach for Donovan to make him let go. Through the pain, Stiles detected the smell of blood and dead flesh when Donovan breathed on him. Flesh and blood of a wolf. Stiles' eyes flashed blue again, but even brighter than before, spreading a bit out from his irises. His claws broke free and he went drove his hand back and struck at Donovan's thigh. The shock of the claws digging into his own flesh made Donovan hiss in pain and loosen his grip on Stiles, and Stiles quickly noticed the wrench he had used just a moment ago. He moved to grab it with his other hand and quickly swung it around and struck Donovan in the face, sending him down to the ground.

"Ahh," Stiles hissed after he hit him.

The strike sent a tremor up his arm, right to where his shoulder was wounded, and the shock of pain nearly made him drop the wrench. He quickly moved his opposite hand to it and quickly felt the stickiness of his blood and a small chunk of flesh missing through his torn shirt. The brightened glow from Stiles' eyes dimmed back to normal as he hissed where his fingers touched the cartilage in the center of the wound. At the edges, he felt the marks from…teeth. Stiles removed his hand and watched as his own blood dripped down from his fingers, to the pavement. But his eyes quickly went back on Donovan who was standing back up and turned to face him.

There was a grunt as Donovan stirred as he moved to get back to his feet. Donovan moved his other hand to his head where he was bleeding from a cut that he had gotten from getting hit with the wrench. "Bitch," he hissed. "Guess it must run in the family."

Stiles' blue eyes widened as he saw the rows of fangs peeking out from his mouth. Fangs that he recognized belonging to a Wendigo, with his lips and the corners of his mouth stained with blood. But that wasn't what was widened his eyes, it was the bloodied palm with the fanged jaws in the center of it. Donovan's hand was covered with his own blood and he was sure that he was seeing the teeth in his palm moving. Stiles had never seen or heard of anything like this. It sure hadn't been seen on any of the Walcotts.

' _Chimera_ ,' he thought to himself, realizing what was happening.

Donovan ran for him, but Stiles moved to meet his incoming punch with a block. When Stiles blocked him, Donovan went and threw himself at him, forcing Stiles to fall back flat to the pavement with a pained shout. The wound on his back burning and bleeding more intensely.

"I don't usually like to play with my food." Donovan smirked down at Stiles' pained face, his sharp teeth making him look extra monstrous. "But I have to say, I'm really enjoying it."

Stiles looked up and saw that Donovan was lowering his jaws to bite into him. He then quickly jammed the wrench, that he was still holding, right into Donovan's leg, slightly stabbing into his upper left thigh. Donovan screamed as he rolled off him.

"How about now?" Stiles hissed as he threw himself to his feet.

Donovan moved to yank the wrench out of his leg and threw it off to the side before looking over to see that Stiles was running for the school. He let out a frustrated growl and started to quickly limp on after him.

As they disappeared into the building, Theo moved out from his hiding space and went over to where they had just been. He spotted the discarded wrench on the pavement, slightly smeared with some of Donovan's blood. He smiled as he thought that could prove handy later on and grabbed it. He then quickly moved to follow and keep his eye on them.

Barely a minute after he took off, three figures slowly stomped over and stopped in front of the spot of blood left from Stiles' wound. The Surgeon went and pulled out a small syringe pump and moved it over to the spot of blood. He pulled on the plunger and began to collect as much of the blood that he could.

Donovan threw the school doors open and gazed down the dark halls but seeing and hearing no sign of Stiles anywhere. As he turned his head to the side, a jaw appeared at the side of his throat and it seemed to give him a better taste of the air. Stiles' blood hit him and the mouth soon disappeared. After it did, Donovan turned to look down a hall and started to limp down it.

As Stiles ran down the halls, he could feel the pain in his shoulder intensifying. He needed to find a place to hold up and heal. He found himself heading for the library. It was close by and he knew that its automatic doors would only open for someone with a school card. Plenty of places to hide and hold out too. It was perfect. He made it there and yanked out his card to swipe and then he quickly threw himself in. He went to lean against the librarian's desk and went to reach at his back. He found his shirt and had been torn through and pulled his hand back to see it wet with blood. Stiles ears perked up when he heard Donovan's stomps heading his way. He heard the guy stop in front of the library's doors and a moment later a beep from the card reader followed by the doors unlocking. Stiles ducked into a dark corner as Donovan opened the door and strolled on inside.

As Donovan moved to pocket the card, he decided that he wouldn't dwell on the small degree of help that Theo had given him but he would never tell him that. Not when he was going to go and finish Stiles off. The library was quiet and there was no sign of him anywhere, but Donovan knew he was here. It was so quiet that when a call came from Stiles' phone, the buzzing echoed slightly through the room.

"You dropped your phone," Donovan called out as he went to take a look at who was trying to reach Stiles. "It's Malia. Should I text her back?" he sarcastically asked out before he pocketed it. "You don't really know who I am, do you Stiles? Maybe you heard about my father. Did your dad tell you about him?" His tone started to get louder and angrier as he spoke. "Did Sheriff Stilinski ever tell you about the time he was still deputy and how his partner got caught in a shoot-out?! Did he tell you a bullet shattered my dad's T-9 vertebra?! Went right through his spinal cord? Know what that means? It means that everything below his waist is useless. And not just his legs. I bet he told you some of it."

From his hiding spot, Stiles grit his teeth as he began to smell the growing scents of resentment and bitterness leaking out of Donovan. The guy was right about one thing, his dad had told him some of what had happened. It was back when Donovan had failed his psych evaluation for the academy, and he had raised his first fuss about it. Stiles' dad and his old partner were on the trail of a handful of suspects in a small drug ring and chased them to a building in the warehouse district. His dad called for backup and suggested they wait but Donovan's father was too eager and went in without wanting to wait. That ended up with him getting shot.

But as Donovan kept going, it was clear to Stiles that he had his own version. His own twisted, hateful version.

"But I bet he probably left out the part where he was sitting in a car, calling for backup, while my dad went in alone. Did he tell you he was too scared?! Too much of a frightened little bitch to go in after him?! Or do scared little bitches not tell their little bitch sons about their failures?! About how they put their partner in a wheelchair for the rest of his LIFE?!"

Stiles felt his anger bubbling over him as he gripped his hands into tight fists. It was so tight that he claws dug into his palms and caused him to cut himself and blood started to flow. He looked down and saw the red drop on the ground and he took a deep breath and smelled the fresh scent of blood. His eyes softened as an idea came to him.

Donovan felt good, unloading everything that Stilinski had done to his family against his son and he was waiting for a response. But there was no reaction from any of it. Stiles was staying in hiding. He moved up the stairs to see if he was hiding upstairs. As he stepped through the top floor, he extended his hands out and both his palms sprouted fanged jaws to taste the air. He could taste the lupine blood in the air, but it wasn't coming from up here. It was coming from below. He quietly moved down the nearby banister and climbed down, moving through the shelves towards the smell. He smirked hungrily as he went and thrust his hands through the books to grab Stiles on the other side and grabbed nothing but air. He stuck his head through the shelf and saw Stiles wasn't there. His nose twitched and he looked over to the side to see some heavy bits of blood smeared on the bottom of the shelf. His eyes widened as he realized he had been tricked. He pulled his head out just in time to be see a shifted Stiles roaring and charging for him.

The two of them toppled out of the bookshelves and began rolling around until they pulled away from each other when they got to the center of the room. Stiles glared down at Donovan and let a small threatening growl loose from his throat. Donovan took a moment to stare properly at the teenage werewolf before he bared his own teeth out. His eyes went white and met Stiles' sapphire gaze. A moment later, they ran for each other.

Through the library's grand window, Theo was watching the events going on from the shadows. An amused smirk was plastered on his face as he watched Donovan throw a punch at Stiles chest, who retaliated with one to Donovan's nose. He had to admit, this was proving more entertaining than he thought it would. Things looked pretty close between them. Consuming Wilson Grant had given Donovan the boost he needed to go toe to toe with a werewolf on his own. Still, in the end it doesn't matter how this fight turns out, either outcome will help him with his plans. Still, he couldn't help but feel some part of him rooting for Stiles to emerge as the victor. He then moved to twirl the wrench he was holding a bit.

After getting a good kick at his side, Donovan stumbled back and let out a frustrated groan. He brought his hands out at his side with his palms facing out. Both of his palms then sprouted out fanged jaws and they seemed to start making chomping movement, as if hungering for fresh meat. Donovan ran for him, sticking his palms out, trying to grab at him. Stiles grabbed at Donovan's wrists, pushing on them as he struggled to keep Donovan's hands from grabbing onto his face. They started stumbling around, Donovan pushing on Stiles as he backed away, trying to keep himself getting bitten from the fangs in Donovan's mouth and palms. His back hit the scaffold, making some of the metal bars on the top jingle a bit as Stiles cried out from the impact.

Donovan smirked. "Don't worry, I won't eat all of you Stiles. I'll leave some pieces behind and I'll send them to your dad, one piece at a time. Your dad will wish he was dead, and once he does, I'll grant his wish and eat him too."

At the thought of his dad being mauled and torn apart by Donovan, Stiles let out a hard, angry growl. The claws on his hands began to grow in size and began to pierce into Donovan's wrists. Now Donovan made a pained cry of his own, and his legs buckled. Stiles then spun them around and pushed him hard into the scaffold, which made the stuff on top jingle even more, with a small metal pole begin to stick out a bit.

"You Won't Touch Him!" Stiles barked out in a deep voice that sounded almost nothing like his own.

Donovan quickly slammed his body right into Stiles, forcing him back a pace, before Donovan grabbed onto a bar from the scaffold, and used it to lift himself up and throw his two feet right into Stiles' chest. Stiles stumbled back and fell to down to his knees. Seeing his intended prey down, Donovan climbed up the scaffold a bit and then leapt off, with his jaws bared, the ones in his paws included, yelling as he flew right for him. Stiles lifted his head, showing his face had shifted into an even more bestial version, and his blue eyes shined as bright as they did before. In that moment, Donovan gasped and his form faltered. From the floor, Stiles leapt for Donovan with a hard roar and hit the chimera with a hard, fierce punch to the face. The force of it was so strong that Donovan flew off and crashed right into the scaffold. The impact made the whole structure jump and all the metal poles and equipment nestled on top began to topple and fall off.

Stiles landed on his feet and quickly rolled away to avoid getting hit by the falling debris. He covered his face as some dust started blowing his way but he could still hear the sound of the metal hitting the floor. But, he then started smelling fresh blood, and a lot of it. When the sound of falling poles ceased, he then slowly rose to his feet and turned around. He had kept his eyes closed until he finished turning around but if he had opened them earlier, Stiles would've seen the bestial wolf shadow he was casting on the floor. His face slowly shifted back to normal and his claws retracted as he saw that Donovan was suspended slightly from the floor, a metal pole piercing his chest. He could hear the sounds of his gurgling blood at his mouth and moved himself over to face him. Donovan's eyes flew down to him, glaring at him, as blood began oozing out from his mouth. Stiles just stood there, still breathing hard, watching Donovan and listening to the sound of his heart faltering. Eventually, the beating stopped. Once it did, the nerves in Donovan's body relaxed and he was no longer moving. Blood and mercury started to freely flow down the pole to the floor.

Stiles kept staring, feeling a wide and everchanging chain of emotion, and he didn't know how long it was for. Yet, when he finally managed to pry his eyes away, they went off to the side where he saw the phone at the librarian's desk and he went and ran for it.

"9-1-1, please state your emergency," he heard in the receiver. The dispatcher repeated when there wasn't any response. Stiles only breathed, letting it be heard to show that there was indeed someone on the line. "This is 9-1-1. This line is for emergencies only. If you do not have an emergency, then please hang up." But Stiles kept silent and kept the call on.

He then heard a different voice. "You want me to send a car out? What's the address?"

"It the school. Beacon Hills High," the dispatcher said back.

After that, the call disconnected. Stiles sighed heavily as he went to hang up the phone. He turned to look back at Donovan's impaled body before he made his move to leave before the police got there. He opened the door but quickly moved to leave a book to keep it barred open as they would need a school card to open it. Stiles then remembered that Donovan still had his phone and he moved back to him, to his body. Stiles avoided looking at Donovan's face as he moved to his pants' pocket and got it back. He saw that Malia was trying to call him back but he moved to cancel her call. He had to get out of there.

But Stiles went and looked back up at Donovan's face and saw that his eyes, his lifeless eyes were staring right back at him, with the glare lingering. Blood was also starting to pool down on the floor where the pole was thrust into the floor. He grit his teeth as he felt his pulse quicken a bit and he moved to run and get out of there as fast as he could. He ran out of the main doors and got to his jeep. In the distance, he could hear the distant sounds of a police car coming. He knew that if he tried to get away from the school now then he was sure to be spotted fleeing. And he couldn't have his jeep stay in the center of the parking lot as the deputies all knew what his jeep looked like. He was so consumed with nervous thought, that he didn't realize that the wrench he dropped before, as well as the small mess of his spilled blood, had both disappeared from the pavement.

Stiles quickly fixed up the pieces that were still loose in his battery and then shut the hood down before throwing himself into the driver's seat. He managed to back up and move his jeep into a dark corner before shutting his car off, just before a squad car pulled in. He was breathing quickly, letting his head drop and rest against his steering wheel as he tried not to let himself lose it right then and there. He couldn't be seen or caught there. His hands were still stained with blood and he was still bleeding a bit from the bite wound in the back, at his shoulder blade. He carefully watched as the car parked in front of the school and the deputy headed on inside. He nervously tapped at his steering wheel, alternating between muttering to himself and looking at himself in the mirror. He then saw the deputy coming back. He let his ears focus and listen to what he was saying.

"I'm 10-97 and there's no one here. It's a 653," he told dispatch.

"Roger that. Prank call. Return to your patrol."

Stiles widened his eyes at that. How could he think it was a prank call? Did he not find the body?

As soon as the squad car pulled away, went and got out and ran back inside. He got to the library and saw that Donovan's body was gone. Not only was it gone, but the blood and fallen metal bars had all been cleaned up. It was like nothing had even happened in there. Stiles blinked before he looked over at where the bars had been stacked neatly against the scaffold. He moved to one of them and ran his hand on it. He felt something and pooled back to find a single drop of Donovan's blood, still fresh.

What was going on?

* * *

Cora was cooing at Jason as she held the babe in her arms. He had been crying hard for the last ten minutes and wasn't showing any signs of stopping.

"Jason, what's wrong?" she said when it was clear that trying to cheer him up wasn't working. "Why are you crying so much?"

Cora wished that she could detect what was wrong with her senses but babies were different from adults or even teens and children. Their chemo signatures were always all over the place. It was hard to really detect what was wrong. It seemed that being a werewolf didn't give any advantages to this part of life.

Jason kept wailing about despite his mother's attempts. But then, he suddenly stopped. Cora was thrown at how Jason seemed to be settling down on his own. It was as if whatever problem that Jason was facing or feeling seemed to have abated all on its own. He then moved to snuggle against his mother's warm hold and Cora went to rub a soothing up and down motion along his back as she held him.

"It's okay," she told him. "It's over now. You're here with mommy."

But what was over? That's what Cora wanted to know.

* * *

She had called twice but Malia was still not getting an answer from Stiles. She had to tell him about the book she found at Tracy's. She looked down at the book in her hand, her eyes glued to the cover. The men in masks now had a name: The Dread Doctors. Stiles would want to know this as soon as possible, yet he wasn't answering her calls. He couldn't still be sleeping in the library at school, could he? Maybe his phone was off? That could be it. She wondered if she should try going to Stiles' place and check up on him. No, if Stiles was home then he was probably trying to sleep and she didn't want to disturb him. He had been pretty tired tonight and didn't want to bother him. If anything, she would catch up with him and the others tomorrow. It was best that she had back home. It looked like she had some late-night reading to do.

* * *

Scott was resting on his bed, his arms around Kira, but was having trouble getting to sleep. After leaving the hospital, he and Kira had gone back to his place to try and rest. But Scott's mind was still on what happened tonight at the club. Those three men in the masks, they had to have been who Malia had been talking about. They had shown up and killed Lucas, so quickly and casually. 'His condition was terminal'. That was what the man who killed him had said. And they called him a failure. What did that mean? Then there was what happened with Kira.

As soon as his thoughts fell on Kira, she had begun to mumble in her sleep. Scott rose his head and looked at her in worry as she was mumbling in Japanese. He was sure that Kira didn't speak Japanese. Just like he was sure that Kira would never go and try to kill somebody. If Scott hadn't stopped her, Kira would've driven her sword straight in for Lucas' heart. What was going on?

Before he could decide what to do, his phone started beeping. He reached for it, making Kira snap out of whatever dream state she was in as she turned to look at him.

"What's wrong?" she asked him.

Scott saw that there was an intruder alert sent to his phone. "It's an alarm at the animal clinic. I think it's a break-in."

* * *

Stiles made it back home and was relieved to find that his dad wasn't. The last thing he wanted to do right now was explain why there were tears in his clothes and spots of blood on them and on his hands. He quickly ran up to his room and pulled off his ruined shirt, feeling it peel off from where it had stuck to his skin. He stood in front of his mirror and turned around to look over at his back. He could see that there was still a small piece of flesh missing there from when Donovan had grabbed him. It wasn't bleeding anymore but there was dried blood over a good upper part of his back. Where he was bit looked like it might take a while for the flesh to regrow and the wound to fully heal as he could still feel some stiffness in his arm now that the adrenaline from his fight had worn off. He quickly stripped the rest of his ruined clothes off and threw himself in the shower.

For a few minutes, Stiles just let himself stand under the showerhead, letting the hot water run down and wash out the blood that clung to his body. As he looked down, he could see the traces of blood begin to move down the drain as it came off. He then started squirted every inch of his body with scented soap and body wash to try and remove any trace of the smell of blood that lingered on him. The smell was intoxicating, and he wanted it all gone. Not a trace to exist for him, or his friends to pick up.

When he was done, he moved to change his clothes and moved over for his crime board. He wrote in Donovan's name and made a note how it was possible he hadn't been dead and walked out after he had left him. As he stepped back and looked at it, he took a minute to consider it, before shaking his head. No, Donovan was dead. His heart had stopped, and Stiles hadn't seen any...light left in his eyes. He then moved to make a new note, one that said he was dead, and then that someone took his body. He took a moment to realize that if that was true, someone else had to have been there. Someone saw what had happened. He then decided that he couldn't have that note written so plainly on the board for anyone to see. He found himself quickly moving to erase it. As he did, he caught a reflection of himself on the board. He looked savage to his own eyes. And there was a dark look in his eyes. He quickly threw his eraser at his reflection, making a jolt go through his body, right to where his arm had been hurt. His breathing started to get harder and his pulse began to quicken. He began to lean on the board as it was starting to get almost too hard to breathe. Stiles began to want nothing more than to just throw his board and begin lashing out and wrecking everything around him. But he was snapped out of this train of thought when his phone began ringing again. He took a moment to regain his breath before he looked to see who it was, thinking it might be Malia again. It wasn't Malia calling though. It was Scott.

"Scott?" he coughed out.

"Stiles, someone is taking the bodies," Scott said hurriedly back to him. That made Stiles freeze up as he had just thought and written that only a minute ago. "Stiles? You there?"

Stiles shook himself out of it. "Yeah, um...what are you talking about?"

"I'm at the animal clinic with Kira. Tracy's body is gone. The lock on the door was broken from the outside. And my mom just told me that Lucas' body went missing from the morgue. They've been searching the whole hospital for it. Someone is stealing the bodies."

Stiles turned and looked at the space where Donovan's name had just been. So, he had been right. Somebody had taken Donovan's body, and seemed to be taking the other chimeras too. But who? Where? Why?

* * *

In the woods, Jordan Parrish was slowly getting out of his van and moving over to the back where he opened the door to reveal Donovan's body. It was taken out and after he had it in his grasp, he began moving off, deeper into the woods. He was looking on ahead with unblinking eyes, moving steady and mechanically as if in a trance. He wasn't stopping as he kept walking, with his eyes letting out a bright fiery orange glow, being the only light of the dark.

* * *

The following morning, Liam found he was a bit worried about Lori as she and her brother seemed to have had some trouble during the attack at Sinema and wanted to see if they were alright. Everyone else was busy trying to look for any traces of the missing bodies so he decided to head to see them alone.

He made it to Satomi's place and found that her pack was gathered around the front in a semi-circle, and every one of them had sullen looks on their faces. The Alpha was in the middle of this circle and her head was down and Liam could make out that she was speaking Japanese very softly. Her tone was soft and light, but Liam could feel the sadness and grief coming out of her. Coming out of everyone. He quickly found Brett and Lori off to the side and they looked sadder than he had ever seen them.

Liam waited until it seemed like Satomi dismissed the pack and they started to slowly disperse themselves. Some of them gave Liam a small nod as they saw or passed him as he headed over to Brett and Lori.

Brett lifted his face up to look at him as he made his way over. "Hey Liam," he said dryly. "What are you doing here?"

Liam saw that it wasn't with his usual, annoying dryness. Brett was really depressed. "I was worried about you guys. I mean, after what last night, I wanted to come and see if you two were alright."

"Far from it," Brett mumbled.

"Why? Did something happen?"

"I'm sorry." Lori let out a small sniffle as she moved to head into the house.

Her brother watched her go sadly while Liam grew more worried and concerned about what had happened. He then looked around and noticed that there was a member of the pack missing. "Where's Wilson?"

When Brett turned to catch Liam's eye, the grief that Brett was feeling increased tenfold. Liam knew what the answer was before Brett could even tell him.

A few minutes later, Liam found himself standing right outside Lori's room. The door was open and he could see that Lori was sitting at her desk, crying. Of course, she would be crying. Wilson, a man that both she and Brett saw not just as their pack's Second but as a big brother had been killed. They had all felt when he had been killed the previous night, which explained what happened with them during Lucas' attack. Liam sighed and moved to softly knock on the door. That made her look up and quickly wipe at her eyes.

"Sorry," she said in a cracked voice as she stood up.

He didn't give Lori a chance to say anything else as he moved to wrap his arms around her and pull her into a tight hug. As he held her, Lori moved to rest her head in his shoulder and resumed her crying. Liam moved his hand up and down her back, as well as tightening her hold on him while she squeezed back.

Liam looked over and saw that there was a photo on the bed where Lori had laid. He saw that it was of her and her brother, both a few years younger, with Wilson behind them. They all smiling as Wilson had his arms wrapped around them both. He would make sure that he helped them find out who did this and make them pay.

* * *

Lydia was happy to be out of the hospital and back at school that Monday. Her mother had suggested that she take a few more days to rest but she had enough of rest. She quickly met up with Malia and she showed her the book she found at Tracy's house.

"The Dread Doctors, by T.R. McCammon," she read aloud.

Lydia suddenly stopped as she tilted her head, studying the image on the cover.

"What?" Malia asked out in concern.

"I don't know. There's something about it," she said, slowly starting to walk again. "Has anyone actually read it yet?"

"Well, there's me and I showed it to my dad too. Neither of us could understand any of it."

Malia would admit that she wasn't the best reader around, but this story was hard to follow. Her father told her that it seemed hard for him to keep reading as he found his attention drifting off around a few parts.

"Well, we should probably all read it," suggested Lydia.

Malia nodded. "Kira's working on it. I showed it to Stiles the other day, but he says that he can't find anything on the author because it's a pen name."

Lydia then began to read the plot summary aloud.

"In a small New England town, teenagers are taken in the night and buried alive. Days later, they emerge transformed, wreaking havoc and spreading terror, commanded by an ancient order of parascientists known only as the Dread Doctors." She took a moment to swallow nervously. "Sounds vaguely familiar. How does it end?"

"It doesn't. This is supposed to be volume one."

"Oh, let me guess, there is no volume two?" asked Lydia, rolling her eyes.

"Uh, I think we're living volume two," she put in a bit fearfully.

"Then maybe the real question is, is this a novel or someone's prediction?"

* * *

Over in the library, Kira was over at the photocopier, making multiple copies of the book's pages and organizing them to give out to everyone. As she finished with the last one, Scott came up to her.

"Done?" he asked.

"Done," she nodded.

As she left the machine, the librarian came over and threw Kira a short and annoyed look. She then moved to put a sign on the machine indicating that it was out of ink.

"Sorry," she quickly apologized before she walked off with Scott.

"I don't think the Dread Doctors are the ones stealing the bodies," he told her.

"Are we really calling them that?" Kira looked around nervously, hoping they weren't being eavesdropped on.

Scott kept going like she hadn't said anything. "Think about it. They killed Tracy and walked away. They killed Lucas and walked away. Why would they leave and come back to take the bodies?"

"Someone else has to be taking them."

Scott narrowed his eyes. "But the bodies aren't just bodies. They're...failures."

"So, if the chimeras are all failures, what's the success going to be?"

Scott dreaded to find out, pun not intended. "Bad. Probably really bad."

They made it to the door but Scott just stopped. He looked back out at the library with a troubled look on his face.

"What's wrong?" Kira asked him.

"I thought I smelled blood." Yet, everything in the library seemed normal. There was nothing to show that anything was happening. He then shook his head. "Forget it. Must've imagined it."

But Scott hadn't imagined it. He had smelled some leftover blood from the previous night. A student had pulled out a book from a shelf and had disturbed a collection of coagulated blood left over from Stiles' trap. The student didn't even seem to notice it either.

Scott and Kira then left and went to look for Theo so they could update him on what was happening. They found him and the three went to the boy's locker room where they knew they could be alone for a little while. There, they went and gave him a copy of the book right before they told him of everything that had happened after the attack at the station by Tracy.

Theo was attentive and acted as if everything they were telling him was all news to him. Scott didn't blink or seem to feel anything wrong with him at all and Theo found he wasn't trying as hard as he would have if it had been Stiles with him instead of Kira.

"Sorry but I'd never even heard of the Kanima until a few days ago," he calmly told them after they had finished explaining. He then looked at the stack of papers in his hand. "You want me to read this?"

Scott shook his head. "Well, not yet. I'm still only on chapter one."

"You guys do this a lot, huh?" he asked him.

Scott blinked. "Do what?"

"Get involved."

Scott then shrugged. "Yeah, I guess."

As Scott took a moment to think about it, he thought that was all he and his friends ever seem to do, get involved with whatever trouble came around in this town. Ever since that night that he and Stiles had gone to the woods. A part of him wasn't too sure how he felt about that right now. And he also wasn't sure that he wanted to keep doing it.

"What about the author?" Theo asked, putting Scott's mind back on track. "I mean, if he knew all about these guys then should we be talking to him?"

"Yeah, we thought about that, but it's pretty much a dead end."

Theo nodded before he started flipping through the pages. He suddenly stopped at the end. "What about this guy?"

Scott looked over and saw that Theo was at the book's Acknowledgements page. His eyes widened at the name that was there. He then showed it to Kira and her eyes widened too. Scott began to read it aloud.

"For providing scientific perspective and invaluable insight this book is dedicated to Gabriel Valack."

"You know him?" Theo asked.

"Yeah, and I know where to find him."

* * *

During his free period, Stiles had found himself walking into the library. He couldn't help but find it ludicrous that there were kids moving around, at ease, where Donovan tried to kill him less than 12 hours ago. He looked down at the floor and found that there was a small crack in the spot where the pole dug into when Donovan had been impaled.

The construction worker at the scaffold was looking a little perplexed at a dent in one of the support bars in middle of the structure. "What the hell happened here?" he muttered almost to himself.

Stiles had a flash of himself leaping at Donovan and launching him at that spot with all his strength. So much strength that it caused the poles on the top to fall and one to impale him. He then looked over to see that there was still a small crack on the floor from where the pole had imbedded itself to the floor. His eyes then went up and he could see Donovan with the pole still in him, staring hard at him. Stiles kept his gaze on him before he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Ahh," he jumped before he calmed down when he saw that it was Liam.

He quickly stepped back and held up his hands. "Sorry," he quickly apologized.

But Stiles shook his head. "No, it's okay. What's up Liam?"

Liam's expression was sullen. "I tried to call you all weekend."

"Yeah, I was out trying to look for those Dread Doctors. Why?"

"Something's happened."

Stiles realized that there was sadness and grief all over Liam, both from him and others. He then tensed up.

"What?"

* * *

After school, Theo immediately went to the Doctors' lair to give them the latest report. The three of them seemed to have been waiting for him when he arrived.

"The book worked. And now, they're going to see Valack. They're going tonight."

"To Eichen," the Surgeon grumbled though his mask.

He then went to give the subject in his cryotube a look, as if to silently tell him that their plan was working. He then looked over at the work bench, where the small vial of blood collected at the school was sitting. It seemed that the experiments he wanted to conduct with it would have to wait. But perhaps there might be an opportunity to procure even more, tonight.

* * *

Henry Tate was chopping and lining up blocks of wood outside his house. The sun was starting to dim so he wanted to get this all done before night fell. He knew that Malia was going to be out working on her schoolwork. At least, that's what she told him. There was a chance that she, and her friends, were going to be out trying to dig up more about these so-called Dread Doctors. Most likely by reading that book Malia showed him. He let a small shiver loose when the thought of that book came back to him. As a teen, he loved watching and reading horror stories, but the story of that book was far from enjoyable or interesting. He was barely able to get to the fourth chapter before he found he couldn't read anymore. Yet, he felt disturbed as soon as he stopped.

He went and brought his axe down on another block of wood and rose his head up to take a breath when he froze. In the trees, he could make out a pair of glowing blue eyes trying to hide in the brush.

"Malia?" he called out. But the eyes weren't moving.

When there was no answer, he moved for them but heard the sound of a car horn and looked over to see that there was a sedan in front of his house. Not just any sedan, but his family's old one. The driver's seat window was down, and he saw that his late wife was waving bye at him as she was beginning to drive off, and he could make out two little girls in the back seat. He looked back to the brush and saw that the eyes seemed to be following the car.

"Wait!" Henry cried out as he tried to go after the car.

But the car was gone, and so were the eyes. He blinked his eyes rapidly and found that there was no sign of car or that anything had been hiding in the brush.

"What was that?" he mumbled to himself.

* * *

"There's no discussion Lydia, I'm going," Stiles said stiffly.

"Stiles, you should stay and try and get some sleep. You're tired," Lydia said back to him.

They were both in Stiles' bedroom where they were arguing about her plan to go Eichen House to question Valack with Scott and Kira. Stiles didn't want them to go alone as Valack had a freakish third eye drilled into his forehead. Lydia knew that the place held bad memories and feelings for Stiles after his possession. Hell, it held bad memories for her too when she had been held hostage by that maniac orderly Brunski over six months ago.

Stiles narrowed his at her. "I'm fine," he said before throwing a shirt on over his T-shirt.

"Stiles, something has been bothering you all day and I know what it is," she said, making him stop and stare at her.

Stiles got scared. Did Lydia know? Could she know about what happened with him and Donovan? She was a banshee. She probably felt or sensed his death around him or at school.

"Wilson," she said to him. "I didn't know him very well, but I knew that you did. And so did Liam. He's upset about him too."

Stiles let a deep sigh out. While he was feeling a bit relieved that Lydia wasn't talking about Donovan, he couldn't help but get upset when the news of Wilson's death came back to him. That was what Liam had wanted to talk to him about at school today. Apparently, he had been killed Friday night, just one day after the two of them had their little talk together in the woods.

"Yeah, I know. He told me that he was going to stay with them tonight," he muttered out.

"And they still don't know who killed him?"

Stiles stiffened inwardly again. He knew perfectly well who killed Wilson. Donovan had told him that he had eaten another werewolf when he attacked him and Stiles remembered the scent of blood and flesh in his breath. He put the pieces together and realized that Donovan had killed Wilson, but he couldn't say how and why he knew that. Not without telling everyone what had happened.

"No," he said.

"Maybe I could help," she suggested. After all, she did something similar for Araya with her abilities back in Mexico.

"Yeah, maybe," mumbled Stiles. "And anyway, I'm still going. Remember what happened when Deaton paid Valack a visit?" The man had almost gone into a coma.

"We'll be fine," Lydia told him. "You don't have to come. Malia isn't going either."

"Yeah, she isn't going because Malia knows that place is a nightmare asylum full of insanity and death. Okay."

Stiles grabbed for his sweater and furiously threw it on over his shoulders and winced as he felt a sharp sting from the back of his left shoulder. The skin from wound had nearly all come back. He guessed that healing from cuts and gunshots were different than healing from having a part of you get torn and eaten by a shapeshifting cannibal. The last two days his skin back had begun regenerating slowly and there was still some residual pain from if he stressed his shoulder. He had been careful to hide it all weekend, but Lydia had just noticed.

"What was that?" she asked him.

Stiles moved to finish pulling his sweater on. "What was what?" he asked, trying not to sound defensive.

"You winced."

"Just a stiff elbow," he shrugged.

"It was your shoulder."

"Pain radiates Lydia."

"Pain? You just said it was a stiff shoulder."

"Pain, aches, stiffness, it's all the same thing. Let's just go," he barked harshly at her. That made her stiffen up and he closed his eyes as he tried to settle himself down. It wasn't right to bite Lydia's head off when she was just trying to show concern for him. "Sorry...it just hasn't been a good time lately," he apologized.

"Right," she mumbled.

Lydia visibly gave in and Stiles moved to head out. As Stiles passed her, Lydia's eyes glazed over as she heard what sounded like a distant but hard, wolfish growl. She then looked down and saw that there were bloody wolf paw prints, and they led out in the direction that Stiles just walked out the room in. She just stared until she heard Stiles call out her name from downstairs and ask if she was coming or not. She blinked and the bloody paw prints were gone. She then called out that she was on her way and moved to leave the room herself.

* * *

Scott and Kira were looking around his room for her missing belt. She wasn't going to a madhouse like Eichen House without it.

"I don't see it anywhere," Scott said as he moved some things around on the floor.

Kira was checking the bed. "I left it here. I know I did. I woke up and you said, "Don't forget your belt"."

"Are you sure? I don't remember saying that."

"You don't remember saying a lot of things," she mumbled. Her thoughts on what Scott had said to her at Sinema. That he loved her.

Scott looked over at her. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means...nothing," she said shaking her head. "Forget it."

She then moved to throw herself on his bed and he bent down to face her. He can smell the anxiety and fear starting to bubble up inside of her.

"You okay?" he asked her in concern.

"Can you do me a favor? Can you look at me with your eyes?"

He smiled. "I am," he tried to remind her.

But Kira didn't smile back. "I mean your other eyes. Just...tell me what you see."

Scott's face fell. Kira wanted him to see her aura. Scott stood up and Kira moved to stand a few paces away. He focused and let his eyes shift and looked over at Kira. He saw her inner fox. It looked different from what he remembered. Before, it looked so nimble and elegant. But now, it seemed bigger and…wilder. He averted his eyes down and then noticed her belt on the floor.

"What?" Kira said, noticing how he looked away. "Did you see something?"

Scott bit back a swallow. "Yeah, I found your belt." He then moved to pick it up and hand it to her. "Everything else is fine," he told her. "Ready?"

She strapped her belt on and then nodded. He then moved to leave the room, his expression turning to one of concern and worry as soon as his back faced Kira.

* * *

Virgil went and slammed his fist into his work locker. His boss just asked him to work late and alone, Again, and said that it wouldn't be for overtime, AGAIN. Needless to say, Virgil was pissed. He tried to remind his boss that he said he wouldn't do that again but the bastard feigned ignorance about it, though Virgil knew the man's memory was like a steel trap. He tried to say he would make it up to him with a full repair job, on the house, but Virgil already had that promise on the table but didn't bother reminding him because he would no doubt play ignorant, AGAIN. Virgil knew that the only reason he was offering that was because he knew that Virgil would never use it. He kept both his bike and his father's car in tip top shape. He was really getting sick and tired of dealing with this guy and his condescension with him. Always acting he was doing him a favor because he had a 'record'.

Thinking of that, Virgil only got angrier. That was always going to be hovering over him. And why? Because he was a good and loyal friend to a complete ass. He ripped off his jacket and threw into his locker harder than necessary. Then he went and rested his forehead against the cool metal and took a few deep, calming breaths. Try as he might, Virgil could never forget his former friend. Or what the guy had done to him. And who knew if Virgil ever was a stray thought in his head?

When he settled, Virgil went to pick his jacket up to hang it on the hook. As he lifted it up, one of his tarot cards fell out. His eyes narrowed when he saw it fell not upright or reversed, but perfectly horizontal to him.

"The Moon," he read after picking it up. "Means a time of illusion, deception and fear when upright. And means intuition, insomnia and release of mental blocks when reversed."

But the card was neither. His grandmother mentioned that sometimes she had unclear predictions with her cards. This could mean that everything was in flux and it could eventually land either way. Or, there were opposing forces at work at the same time. But was this omen for him, or for someone else in this town? Or...something?

* * *

"Hello? Anyone there?" Lydia asked as she hit the button on the gate intercom with Kira by her side.

Scott and Stiles were waiting off by the jeep and Scott's bike as they looked up at the building. Even after six months, this place still gave Stiles the creeps.

"You going to be okay in there?" Scott suddenly asked him.

Stiles blinked at him. "Yeah, why?"

"You just seem a little off."

Stiles fought the urge to roll his eyes. "Yeah, I think we're all a little off. Maybe some of us more than others." His eyes then went over to Kira, making Scott turn to look over at her too. "What happened?"

"When the other chimera, Lucas, when he came after us, I heard Kira say something in Japanese."

He shrugged. "That doesn't sound too bad."

"She doesn't know any Japanese," Scott pointed out.

"Still not terrible."

"I also think I might have stopped her from killing Lucas."

"Okay." Stiles then narrowed his eyes a bit. He heard about what happened at Sinema. Lucas had poisoned his own boyfriend Corey and then gone after Mason before attacking Liam, Brett and Lori. "But, wasn't he trying to kill everyone else though? I mean, that just sounds like self-defense."

"It was more than that. I mean, she nearly took off his head."

Stiles couldn't help but think of how Donovan had wanted to kill and eat him. Sure, he didn't plan for that stuff to fall and kill Donovan, but he found that he wasn't sorry it happened. The guy had wanted to eat him, and then go do the same to his father. Kira was trying to protect everyone like he was trying to protect his father.

"Well maybe she felt that she had no choice. Kira just wanted to keep everybody safe. There's got to be a point where self-defense is justified. Tracy, she killed her own father, therapist and near half dozen other people, including Malia. And Lucas would have killed you."

Scott narrowed his eyes a bit. "They're not the bad guys. They're the victims. We shouldn't be killing people we're trying to save."

Stiles stiffened up. Victims. He called Tracy and Lucas victims. Called Donovan a victim. And what was Mr. Stewart? Those cops at the transport? The therapist? Lydia and her mom? Malia? Or Wilson? All of them were the real victims. Tracy, Lucas and Donovan chose to hurt and kill them all. And yet Scott was saying they weren't bad guys? Calling _them_ the victims?! Stiles found himself clenching his hands into tight fists.

Scott felt a rise in tension and anxiety coming off from Stiles and heard the knuckles in his friends' hands crack as he tightly fisted them. "Stiles?"

He looked up to see that Stiles' eyes were shifted and found his eyes moving away from the sapphire gleam. Stiles grit his teeth when he saw Scott do that and he let out a frustrated grunt as he moved to throw himself into his jeep. He was relieved that it started up right away with no problem and moved to drive away without another word.

Lydia and Kira let their eyes follow after Stiles' jeep until it disappeared down the road before looking back at Scott.

"What just happened?" Kira asked him.

Scott shook his head. "I don't really know," he mumbled out as he kept staring out to where Stiles drove off. What was up with Stiles all of a sudden?

But none of them got much of a chance to dwell on it as they heard a buzz and the front gate became unlocked.

"Let's go. I'll call Jordan and ask for him to come by." She would need to find a new ride back.

The three of them then moved to make their way into Eichen House.

* * *

A/N: I hope you liked the fight between a werewolf Stiles and the chimera Donovan. I wanted it to feel like a real fight to the death, yet, still have it not be an intentional death blow from Stiles to end it. Also, how will it be now that Stiles isn't going to be in Eichen House? After all, he couldn't go see Valack now anyway due to the mountain ash, so I didn't want him to just be standing out with Scott and Kira. Besides, I have something else in mind for him to do with storming out.


	14. A Novel Approach part 2

Chapter 13: A Novel Approach part 2

Noah Stilinski was in his office, staring at a small tack board where he had a photo of Donovan along with some other photos and files. It had been days since the boy's escape and there was no sign of him. His former partner also hadn't heard anything from his son though he made no attempt to hide the fact that he didn't want any contact from either him or Donovan. Noah couldn't help but feel that something bad might've happened to the kid. Maybe the same kind of thing that happened with Tracy and Lucas.

He had asked Stiles if he and the others could keep a lookout for him. If they found any trace of him, like his scent, then they should call him immediately. And, as the subject of his son came around, he couldn't help but feel that something was wrong with him. Stiles seemed quiet and detached from him the last few days, which was weird. He guessed that all this business with the 'Dread Doctors", a name he thought was completely ridiculous by the way, and what they were doing to people was starting to get to him. Not to mention that his friends were attacked again, just before the bodies of these "chimeras" were stolen. In fact, now that he listed everything like this, he can probably understand why his son would be bothered.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by a knock on his office door.

"Sheriff?" Parrish said lightly to him.

"Uh, yeah, Parrish, what's up?"

"I'm heading out. I just got a call from Lydia."

Just before he left, Stiles had told him that he and his friends got a lead and had to go to Eichen House and talk to Valack about what was going on. Whenever that place was involved, Noah couldn't help but be worried whenever his son got anywhere near it, considering what had happened before. If Lydia called Parrish, he quickly started to assume something had happened.

"Is something wrong?" he quickly asked.

"Oh, no. At least, I'm not sure. Lydia called and asked if I could go over to Eichen House and pick her up when they were done finding out more about the Dread Doctors. And are we really going to call them that?"

"Afraid so. Why is she asking for you to pick her up?"

"Well, apparently Stiles just went and took off before they could head inside."

"What? Why?"

"Don't know. She said that he just got into his jeep and just drove off."

Noah narrowed his eyes. That didn't seem like Stiles. He moved to get his phone and started to call for his son. After a moment, the call went straight to his voice mail.

"Stiles must've turned his phone off," he mumbled.

"Do you think he's okay?" Parrish asked out in concern.

Noah sighed. "I hope so."

* * *

Stiles glared out at the street as he drove as far away from that place as he could. He just drove aimlessly and found that he seemed to be heading off towards the direction of the preserve. A part of him was surprised that he just took off but being around there was just too…suffocating for him. Not just being at that place, but being around Scott.

" **We shouldn't be killing people we're trying to save."**

What Scott said just made it all too much. Scott was upset with Kira over what had happened. How she could've ended up killing Lucas back during his attack on them at Sinema. Stiles thought that Kira was really just trying to save their friends and protect all those people at the club. Scott might have wanted to save Lucas but maybe the guy was beyond saving. He was so focused on Lucas but what about everyone else? Lucas nearly killed a handful of people all in the same night and it didn't sound like he didn't know what he was doing. It looked like Lucas wanted to do those things. Just like with that wolf with the talons, and Tracy…and Donovan. They each tried to kill them, after they had killed a number of people beforehand. He didn't know about that talons guy but Tracy killed her father and therapist and Donovan bragged about killing another werewolf who he now knew to be Wilson.

How would Scott react when he found about what happened that night in the library with him and Donovan? A part of him could already guess.

 _'Bet he wouldn't be so upset if it was Allison that had been swinging that sword. Or if Allison had been who Donovan attacked and had killed him. He might shout and spaz out at anyone that said what he just said about Kira with her.'_

From out of a dark corner of his mind, that thought just suddenly shouted out to him. And he narrowed his eyes as he couldn't help but think it was true. Allison had fired arrows right into Erica and Boyd and got sick pleasure out of it too, which he happened to see but Scott hadn't. But, he did see her stab and cut into Isaac, not to mention try to kill Derek right in front of him. None of that was to protect or save anyone. Allison wanted to hurt all of them, kill Derek for revenge and Scott just brushed all of it off like it was no problem. He hadn't said or complained about any of it those times.

Sweat was beginning to fall heavily down his brow and his body felt like it was on fire. His teeth began grinding in frustration and finally he just went and slammed his hand up on the dash of his jeep in aggravation. As he did, he saw that it had shifted, revealing new claws, looking bigger, longer and sharper than how they usually were. Panic set in as he saw them and his eyes widened a bit comically when he saw that his other hand had matching claws at his fingertips. He was so caught up in them that his jeep was steering itself off the lane and moving off into the opposite one. An incoming car began honking, snapping Stiles out of it and making him quickly turn the wheel to avoid hitting it. Stiles' heart was pounding on his chest as he felt the blood pump against the veins in his arms, hands and feet. He went to pull the car off the road, shrouded a bit by the trees, before he threw himself out.

He stumbled out a few steps as he stared down at his hands. Not only were the claws different but his hands seemed to have changed too. He could see that extra hair had sprouted out below his knuckles and run down to his wrists. Stiles took some deep breaths as he closed his eyes and focused on the image of his friends, his anchors. Malia, Lydia, Kira, Liam, his dad, and even Scott. As they ran through his mind, he opened his eyes to reveal their blue glow. His claws however weren't going away or regressing to normal at all though. They stayed there, longer and sharper than ever, almost glowing under the light of the crescent moon shining overhead. His anchors, which had never failed to work for him ever, weren't helping him get control of his shift. Stiles' breathing intensified and grew faster. His face then slowly shifted as the heated blood rushed to his head and he dashed off into the woods.

* * *

Theo was walking down the halls at high school when he suddenly got a text alert. He looked and saw that it was from Courtney, again." She was asking about when they would get together and talk about their next move. He heatedly sighed as he went to send a quick reply.

 _Relax. Talk l8r._

He rolled his eyes as he re-pocketed his phone. Courtney was starting to get on his nerves. She had been freaking out all weekend on him. Donovan's death had really hit her. He had gotten killed only a few hours after they taken out a werewolf, by another werewolf. Donovan had done what he needed him to do, more or less. He didn't need him anymore. And, maybe he didn't need Courtney anymore either. Truth be told, she was starting to get on his nerves. He told her that he would handle Stiles but she kept pestering him for more specifics. Maybe he could arrange something for her.

Anyway, he had more important things and people to see to. He then made the turn that would take him straight to the library.

Malia was sitting at the table that she and her friends had gone to the last time they were all in the library together. She wondered how they were doing, going off to Eichen House to see Valack but she wasn't sorry that she wasn't with them. She had enough memories of that place to last a lifetime. And she thought her time would be better spent trying to read more of that book she had found. She was sitting with her copy of the Dread Doctors book open and had a highlighter open and ready in her hand. Reading this thing wasn't getting any easier and she found that most of the pages she was going through had nearly every line getting highlighted. She sighed as she rested her free hand on the table. Her fingers then brushed against scratches carved into the wood and it felt like they had been made by fingernails, or claws. She began to move the book slightly, to get a better look at them, when someone came to sit in front of her.

Theo smiled as he saw the book open in front of her. "Page turner?" he asked in jest.

"Not exactly," she sighed out, moving the copy back to how she had it before.

He nodded and held up his Pre-calculus book. "Neither is this," he smirked.

Malia didn't answer as she moved her eyes back to the book to get back to trying to read it. She had to remember that Stiles didn't trust this guy. He had been right about Peter, even when no one else thought so. Why wouldn't he be right, now? Still, she was finding it hard to want him to go away. There was just… _something_ , about him.

Theo stared at her for a moment before he moved to open his textbook and get to work himself. He let himself focus on the words in front of him, trying hard to make it seem like he didn't know that Malia was now staring at him. Or that he couldn't detect a small hint of…interest, coming off her. He fought the urge to let a satisfied growl loose.

For over half an hour, the two of them just sat there, trying to work as if the other wasn't there. Malia tried to keep reading and making sense of the Dread Doctors book while Theo pretended to be working on study Pre-calculus. He noticed that Malia seemed to be rubbing against some scratches into the table. His eyes narrowed at them when Malia just suddenly started to get up and start packing her things. She was heading out.

"Need a ride?" he lightly offered.

"I can take the bus," she told him.

"Uh, the last one left about an hour ago."

She froze for a bit before she shrugged her shoulders. "I'll walk." Home wasn't that far away.

He wouldn't let her go that easy. "Haven't I see you come out of Driver's Ed?"

"I hope not." The memory of her last driving lesson, or more accurately driving disaster, coming back to her.

"I'm pretty sure I saw you destroy a couple of traffic cones the other day. And nearly take out a sophomore," he quickly added.

Malia narrowed her eyes. "The sophomore shouldn't have been standing there," she quickly defended.

Theo couldn't help but genuinely laugh a bit at that one. He was beginning to better see what drew Stiles so much into her. It seems there was more appealing qualities to Malia then just her looks and primal ferocity.

"Sounds like you could still use some practice," he said, just before he yanked out his keys.

He then went and threw them into the air and she quickly caught them with ease. A small look of confidence was seeping its way through to her.

"I think it's fair to warn you, you might regret this."

The smile on his face didn't falter. "Yeah? Well, what's life without some risk?"

She rolled her eyes at his shameless bit of flirting as she moved to push her chair in and begin walking off. Theo grabbed his things and began to rapidly stuff them into his bag. He was about to follow after her but stopped mid first step. He looked down at where Malia had been sitting and saw that there seemed to be some kind of pattern, scratched into the table. It seemed to be in the shape of some kind of spiral. He squinted as he saw that it was actually two spirals, compressed into each other, going separate ways. Did Malia do that? No, he immediately thought afterwards. The scratches didn't seem that fresh. But he then noticed that Malia was already on the library's bottom floor landing and hurried along.

* * *

As the three walked inside Eichen House, they tensed up as they got into the entrance lobby. Lydia led the way towards the front desk and handled all the talking. The orderly clerk's eyes seemed to linger on Lydia. He was staring blankly at her which made her stop talking in the middle of her explanation. Scott and Kira got a little worried about what was happening before the man seemed to snap out of it and then put a plastic bin in front of them.

"Please empty the contents of your pockets into the container," he calmly told them.

Scott gave the container a look and shook his head. "We're just here to see-

"Please empty the contents of your pockets into the container," he repeated, this time a bit more pointedly.

Lydia sighed and moved to throw her purse inside. "Just do it," she said tirelessly at him.

Scott moved to throw his phone and keys into it, followed by Kira. The orderly then asked for them to take off their belts and throw them inside the bin too. Lydia was wearing a skirt so she didn't have a belt to throw in. Scott moved to remove his and put it in the bin but Kira was hesitant. Her belt was custom made to unfold and form into her sword. Her only means to fight and defend herself.

"I kind of need the belt," she tried to explain. "I mean, it's crucial to the outfit."

The orderly didn't budge. "Please remove your belt, which patients may take from you to either strangle themselves or others, including _you_."

"Right," Kira said, surrendering and placing the belt in the bin with everything else.

As she did, the orderly moved his eyes back to Lydia and she found herself staring back at him with a somewhat far off expression. But it didn't last long as a guard slamming a metal door shut behind him drew their eyes over to him. He gave them a look over and waved them over.

"Follow me," he told them.

Scott quickly took the lead and Kira and Lydia followed right behind him as the guard started to take them down a secluded hallway. Eventually, they came upon a locked door and he flashed his ID card on the nearby reader to unlock it, leading them down some stairs.

"I'll remind you that I'm only doing this as a favor to Deaton," he told them. "And, I'm doing it against my better judgment."

"We just need to talk to him," Scott started to explain. "If we didn't then we wouldn't be here."

He let a small smirk loose as he got down to the bottom landing. "I'm sure you wouldn't. Still, even then, you'll probably wish you didn't. Especially if you're careless."

"We'll be careful," Lydia told him.

"I hope so miss. Just remember, avoid eye contact as best you can."

Scott tensed up. "Yeah, we know." He wouldn't forget what happened with Deaton during his last visit with Valack.

"But not just with him. With everyone else here, and _everything_."

Scott, Lydia and Kira stopped to give each other a look before they resumed following after the guard. The guard came upon a gated door and Lydia moved to stand next to them but she noticed that Scott and Kira seemed to stop walking with her. She looked back and saw that the two of them seemed to be frozen in step, like they were hitting an invisible wall.

The guard smirked a bit. "You didn't think _all_ of you were going in, didn't you?"

Scott understood. "It's mountain ash, isn't it?"

"Everywhere," he confirmed. "But heavily concentrated down here."

Lydia understood. This place was built to keep supernatural locked up and contained. A barrier of mountain ash would be an obvious security measure for doing that. Only Lydia could go passed it. "Guess it's just going to be me," she muttered.

The guard moved to unlock the door with his card and held it open for her. "Valack's cell is all the way at the end of the hall."

Lydia turned to look back at her two friends and Scott nodded at her.

"We'll be right here," he said, trying to reassure her.

She nodded and started to walk in. The door was closed behind her as she started her slow trek down the dimly lit hallway. There were cell doors along the way and she carefully walked passed them as she made her way down. She eventually turned a corner and saw that the cells down this corridor had glass walls to allow you to see into them. As she walked passed the first one, she attracted the inmate and saw that it was a woman in a straight jacket, and she had no mouth. As she walked passed the next one, she saw that there seemed to be a man there. He seemed normal enough, before he went and opened his mouth and flashed his two rows of razor sharp teeth at her with a white gleam in his eyes. Lydia hurried her pace a bit until she stopped in front of another cell. Her eyes widened as she saw the young man in this one.

"Aiden?" she muttered to herself.

Her…somewhat ex, was standing there, alive, and staring right at her. But Lydia blinked and the sight of him was gone, replaced by some kind of…thing. It had gray skin, pointed ears and dark yellow eyes. She backed away and cleared her throat before moving on. She'd been thinking of Aiden quite a few times over the last couple of months. Jackson too. Every time she spent time with Jordan. She couldn't help but start comparing the times and moments she had with them to the time and moments she been sharing with Jordan. And part of her couldn't help but feel guilty about that, especially after this.

She backed away from the cell and walked off, fast paced passed the rest without giving them a look before she came upon the very last one. She could see Valack in the center of the room, sitting cross legged on the floor. Almost like he was meditating. Lydia didn't make any noise as she approached but he lifted his head to soon as she stopped and stood directly in front of the cell.

"Tell me what you just saw?" he asked her.

"What?"

"The creature in the previous cell. The Sluagh."

"Sluagh?" she muttered.

"Yes, the myth is that they can take on the appearance of the lost souls that they have become inextricably bound to it. What lost soul did you happen to see Ms. Martin?"

She narrowed her eyes a bit. She didn't feel like sharing what she saw. Especially to this guy. "Why do want to know? Aren't you surrounded by enough lost souls?"

"Oh, don't give up on us yet Lydia. We're all works in progress?"

Lydia narrowed her eyes. She remembered that line being spoken to her once before. "Where did you hear that from?"

Valack smiled at her. "Wise words from a former cellmate."

"Oh, and where is he now?"

"Around," he said before he moved to get to his feet. He began to walk over and his eyes fell to what was being held in her hand. "I see you brought the book."

Lydia saw that Valack didn't seem surprised by it and seemed to know that was why she was here, and somehow, she wasn't surprised by that herself.

"Yeah," she said holding it up for him to see it plainly.

He nodded. "Very nice. First Edition. Of course, there was only one printed."

As she looked at his expression, she realized something. "There is no T.R. McCammon, is there?"

He smiled proudly at her. "No." She had figured out the truth.

"You wrote the book."

"That's right, Lydia. Such a clever young woman you are. And surely you must've already guessed that it's not just a book."

"What is it?"

"A tool. Designed to open your eyes."

"Open them, to what?"

"To them. The Dread Doctors."

"Why did you use a pseudonym?"

"I had a professional reputation once. I wasn't interested in ruining it by putting my name on a second-rate piece of trash." His tone had become somewhat critical.

Lydia tilted her head a bit as she folded her arms. "If you felt that way then why write the book in the first place? Why bother doing it at all?"

"Have you actually read it yet?" he asked her.

"Not quite yet," she admitted.

"Well, I wrote it because no one believed me. Because no one listened." He then straightened his composure a bit as he realized something. "They're here, aren't they? In Beacon Hills."

"The Dread Doctors?" She nodded. "What are they?"

"Not entirely human. At least, not anymore. They were scientists once. Scientists who worshipped the supernatural. Tesla said, "If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy frequency and vibration". They found their secrets in electromagnetic forces. Ways to prolong their lives. Give them power. And, most importantly, making you forget you ever saw them."

Lydia blinked as he finished. An image of a masked man standing over her flashed through her eyes for a moment before she shook herself out of it.

"What do they want?" she quietly asked.

He nodded. "Yes, good question Lydia. Everyone wants something, don't they?"

The way he said that made it plain that there was a double meaning.

"Including you," she guessed.

He nodded. "As I said, clever young woman. Yes Lydia, I want something too."

"And what is that?"

Valack leaned in closer until he was right in front of the glass. He stared right at her for a moment before he dug into his pocket and pulled out a small recorder. He then went and placed it through the receiving dispenser so she could take it.

"Hit record," he instructed.

She stared at it for a moment before looking back at him. "What do you want me to say?"

"I don't want you to say anything. I want you to scream."

* * *

The Beacon Hills Mall was full of the typical bustle and hustle at this time of night. Liam was staring off at it all as he and Mason were waiting for their food orders to come so they could take it to their table.

"You really think this is gonna help?" Liam suddenly asked.

The cashier was coming over with a tray full of the milk shakes, burgers and chili fries Mason had ordered for each of them. The teen shrugged as the tray of food was set down in front of them.

"No, not really." He then moved to pick the tray up. "But I think it's better when you're not grieving on an empty stomach. And fast food always make anything a bit better."

"Right," he mumbled. Liam then moved to pick up the second tray holding the drinks.

"Just, try not to let _these_ drinks fall. 'Kay Liam?" Mason teased as he lead the way out.

Liam rolled his eyes as the mishap with Hayden and the drinks came back to him. "Ha Ha. You're so hilarious."

"Yeah, I like to think so," Mason steadily answered back.

They headed over to food court where Brett and Lori were sitting. The two of them seemed to just be just staring dismally off at the spots on the table. They finally blinked when Liam and Mason went and put the trays down.

"So, uh, how long have you guys known Wilson for?" Mason just went and threw in there.

Lori just looked up at him and her face softened up a bit. "Oh, it's years. Ever since Satomi took us in," she told him with a small smile starting to set in. "They kind of were a package deal at the time."

"I know the feeling," Liam said, smiling a little himself.

That had been the way it was when Scott had turned him and he had met Stiles. The two were a package deal themselves.

Mason wiped his mouth after he took a bite from his burger. "Was he born a werewolf like you guys?"

Brett chimed in. "No, he was turned. Satomi gave him the bite." He went and threw a greasy fry into his mouth. "Actually, Wilson was the first one that Satomi turned, well, after she became a Buddhist."

"He was the Second then?" Mason asked.

He shook his head. "No, he was just a normal beta in the pack back then. Satomi chose to make him her Second almost five years ago."

"Is that why she chose him? Because he was the werewolf she made, after she converted?" Mason was interested. As intense and dangerous as this whole new world was, he was finding it just as fascinating and couldn't help but want to know more.

A small smile started to make its way to Brett's face now. "No. She had been thinking long and hard about who would be the Second of our pack. Many of the others were hoping Satomi would pick them."

"Including you, if I remember right," Lori teased.

Liam rose his eyebrows. "Him? He thought he would be second in line to be the next Alpha?" he asked incredulously.

She rolled her eyes. "I know, right?"

Brett looked taken aback. "What? I think I would've made a pretty good fit."

His sister snorted. "In your dreams maybe."

Brett playfully threw his sister a glare which she answered with a light hearted smirk. Liam drew his lips in, trying to fight the impulse to burst out laughing.

"So, what made your Alpha choose him?" Mason asked, getting them back on track.

Lori leaned back in her chair a bit. "Because Wilson was the best one for the job. He seemed to always step up and take charge when she wasn't around and a lot of us tended to listen to him when times got…rough. When someone or something tried to mess around or bother us he would usually be the first in line to tackle it."

"Literally," Brett chimed him. "He was a tough bastard and I know that no matter what, he would always have my back. All our backs. Satomi saw that, and that's why she picked him as our Second. If he ever had to be the Alpha, I would've been right there at his side."

"Yeah," Lori mumbled, completely agreeing with her brother. She would've been ready to follow Wilson's lead if the time had ever come.

Liam let his gaze go down as he let himself be consumed in thought. Stiles was the same in their pack that Wilson was in theirs. The Second. The guy to turn to if the Alpha wasn't an option. Even before Scott officially named him the Second, Stiles seemed to jump ahead to handle and face any problems and issues he or the others seemed to have. Stiles had gone out of his way to help teach and look after Liam, even when he didn't make things easy for any of them at the start. When Scott had been taken by Kate, Stiles had taken charge and made him follow his lead along with Malia and Kira to go and get their Alpha back. If something had happened or ever did happen to Scott, Liam knew that he would follow Stiles, just like Brett and Lori would've followed Wilson if anything happened to Satomi. He perfectly understood what Brett and Lori were feeling about Wilson now. If something happened to Stiles, he would no doubt be the same way right now.

Mason saw that all three of the werewolves he was sitting with had gotten quiet. Something was passing through their minds and Mason couldn't help but feel that it was something so deep and personal that he would never understand. Probably was. He figured that since Stiles was Scott's best friend than it made sense to make him the Second for the pack just like Wilson seemed to be her first Buddhist made werewolf but it seemed bigger than that. This whole pack thing seemed more deeper and complicated than he first thought and he still wasn't sure he got a good part of it. But, he would try. For Liam, and for all the people that were now apparently a very intimate part of his life. He might not be part of his pack, but he was still his best friend.

After a few minutes of them being lost in their thoughts, Liam went and grabbed for his cup and raised it slightly.

"To Wilson," he muttered.

"To Wilson," Mason, Brett and Lori muttered back, grabbing and raising their cups too.

* * *

Theo was in the passenger seat of his truck, calmly sitting and watching as Malia drove them down a wide and deserted street. She was driving a steady 20 mph and her nerves were wound quite tightly. When Theo chanced a look over, he saw that her grip on the steering wheel was tight enough to break a bone if it were an arm or a hand. Malia didn't want a repeat of the last time she was behind the wheel, when she nearly rammed her, Lydia and Kira into a tree.

"You know, we can go a little faster, if you want," he put out there.

Malia kept her eyes firmly on the road. "I'm doing the speed limit," she answered firmly.

He smirked. "Nobody does the speed limit. You also don't have to hold the wheel like that." But Malia didn't budge, on her grip or on looking straight out. He decided now was good a time to _move_ in. "Here, put your hand here."

He moved to softly grip her right hand and slowly guide it down to steering wheel to a more comfortable place. But, as he guided her hand, he let his fingers rub a little more affectionately on her knuckles than was necessary and he could feel his inner wolf howl in delight. Urging him to leave as much of his essence on this female wolf that belongs to another. He could sense the lingering trace of Stiles' scent on her and it made him feel a slight surge of hunger. To take Malia from him, and claim her as his own.

As his skin touched hers, Malia couldn't help but feel her chest tighten slightly and her stomach heat up. The coyote in her seemed stirred. She quickly broke her focused gaze and looked over at him. He let his eyes rise to meet hers and he lazily grinned before slowly backing away and let her go. She tried to ignore how the heat of his touch lingered.

"Better?" he asked her after a moment.

Malia looked back to the road and found that her tension seemed to lessen. Keeping the steering wheel steady seemed to be easier with this new hand placement. But she found herself not seeing the road, but an image of…a doll. It was being held by her sister. Malia's hands suddenly tightened their grip back on the steering wheel and she began to push harder on the gas, speeding them up.

Theo noticed how their speed quickly doubled. "Okay, I said a little faster, not Mach Five," he joked. But they kept going faster and Malia seemed to be gazing hard at the road, and Theo began to get a little worried. "Malia, you okay?" Her foot them went and started to flatten the gas pedal with the floor. "Malia, slow down!" Theo jumped over to try and stop her. But, she pushed him away. The car kept going faster. "Malia, stop! Stop the car!" She wouldn't stop. "Stop The Car!" he roared at her.

That seemed to snap Malia out of her daze as she pulled the car over and quickly hopped out. Theo called for her but Malia didn't heed him as she stumbled down the street. Malia found it hard to breathe. Her breaths were hard and deep but it seemed to do little for her and her legs began to give out.

She fell to her knees and looked up to see, not the street, but the inside of a car. Her little sister was sitting next to her, cradling her doll. She was looking at her before she looked off to the front where her mother was looking back at them for a moment before she turned to look back out the front windshield. Malia then noticed a figure off in the distance, standing in the middle of the street. A woman, and she suddenly went and pulled out two guns and began shooting, at them. Shot after shot, with bullet casings falling at her feet like raindrops as she quickly fired at their car. Malia's mother moved to turn the car to tried to avoid the shots but the car swerved off to the side of the road and began to tumble into the trees and crashed. Malia felt intense pain and pressure hitting her as the car came to a stop, as well as the intense smell of blood. She looked over to see her sister's bloodied hand still holding onto her doll, as well as her mother's bloodied face. Her fear intensified when she saw a bright light starting to shine into the car.

"Malia!"

Theo had cried at her before he moved to pull her away as a car was incoming. He managed to get her away just in time and they fell into a heap onto the street.

Malia was breathing heavily as she realized she was back out in the street. She then heard Stiles' voice speaking to her.

" _That full moon, the three of you were run off the road by someone, or something. You and your family were attacked."_

She then remembered the photo of the massacre that Stiles showed her. The message that was left behind in blood. Bodies covered in claw marks…and bullet wounds.

"It was her!" she cried out in realization.

"Who?" he breathed back.

"The Desert Wolf," she coughed out. "That night…she's attacked us, made me shift."

Her eyes then began to get glassy as the tears built up. All this time, it was The Desert Wolf. The one who had made her believe that she killed her mother and sister all these years. Why her father had spent years living in grief and misery. It was all because of her _real_ mother.

Theo could smell the grief and pain swelling up in her. As she let herself fall into her despair, he went and slightly tightened his hold on her, letting his face rub against her head affectionately. He wanted to howl in delight when Malia slightly leaned into him as silent tears began falling from her eyes.

* * *

Scott was struggling to try and hear out as best as he could while Kira stood back, trying to keep relaxed. It wasn't easy as watching Scott like this was making her curious and want to freak out.

"Anything?" she asked.

He sighed and shook his head. "No. Nothing." As soon as Lydia went through that door, the sound of her footsteps faded quickly. His hearing for anything in her direction was dull, almost as if his range for detecting anything beyond that point was…normal. "Must be the mountain ash." He then broke away and stepped back from the edge of it.

She sighed. "Yeah, I feel it too. To be honest, I feel a little weak."

"Yeah." The ash made him feel hindered too. It certainly felt different, stronger, than the mountain ash that Deaton had around his clinic. He started to open and close his right hand, as it felt like it was going numb. "It's like being sedated."

"This was a bad idea, wasn't it?" She looked back over at the door Lydia went through. "She shouldn't be by herself. Not in there."

"Lydia will be okay. She's strong. She doesn't have super strength, claws or a sword but she always manages to get by." She had survived Peter, the Kanima, the Nogitsune and the Berserkers, without needing any of that. "She's a survivor."

Kira nodded. "Not to mention smart. More smarter than I could ever be. Than most people could be actually."

"Yeah." Scott couldn't help but let a small chuckle loose. "You know, Lydia used to pretend to be dumb."

At that, Kira looked back at Scott, with skepticism plain on her face. "Lydia? Our Lydia?"

His smile widened. "Yeah. It looked like all Lydia seemed to care about were clothes and makeup. She hid it from everyone, even her boyfriend. Only Stiles seemed to know how smart she really was. He paid attention and saw through her act. He had the biggest crush on her."

"How big?"

"Kind of obsessive really," he playfully threw in. "Always complimenting and praising her every time he saw her. At least until he gave up." But his face fell when he thought of more of Stiles' "obsessions", ones he refused to give up as easily. "I still can't believe he just up and left like that."

Kira's face softened a bit. "What were guys talking about? It looked like he got pretty upset."

He tensed up. Scott didn't want to tell Kira that they had been talking about her, and that night. Still, he wondered why that would set Stiles off like that.

"Just stuff," he ended up saying. "But Stiles seems to just get, set off so easily lately. It's like every time I talk to him, he just ends up getting angry all of a sudden. It used to be that it was hard for him to be mad. He would always smile and throw sarcastic jokes around instead. Now, it's like he's always close to lashing out."

She noticed the worried tone he took. "Well, a lot happened to him in the past year. And he just found out that a friend of his was killed only a few hours ago."

 _'Not to mention has a kid he doesn't know about,'_ he silently added. "You mean the guy from Satomi's pack, Wilson? You think they were that close?"

She shrugged. "Well, he is, was," she corrected. "The Second of their pack, just like him, so maybe. He has been hanging around with them a lot in the last six months, right?"

"Yeah," he sighed out. "Him and Liam. I know that Liam and Mason went off with Brett and Lori for a night out to try and cheer them up. You think it might've been a chimera that killed him? One we haven't seen yet?"

Kira dropped her head a bit. "Right now, I think it's a good a guess as any."

Suddenly the lights around them began to flicker. Scott tensed up as he walked a few steps off.

"Did you see that?" he asked.

"No, but I am seeing this."

Scott turned around and saw that sparks were starting to flare off in Kira's hands. The sparks seemed to fire off barely a second away from each other and they seemed to be traveling along her hands and up her arms. And it was escalating.

"Kira, whatever you're doing, please stop," Scott tried to reason with her.

Kira was looking worried and scared as it kept going. She shook her head. "I'm not doing anything. It's just happening," she said, terrified.

Meanwhile, Lydia was looking worried for a different reason. She was gazing at the recorder for a while before she went and placed it back down on the slab.

"You want to record me screaming?" she asked Valack. "Why?"

Other than narrowing his eyes slightly, he didn't break his calm composure. "That isn't any business of yours."

Lydia crossed her arms. After all, this wasn't the first time that someone wanted to use her for her power. And each one of those times got people hurt or killed. "It is when it's my scream that you want. Why do you want a banshee's scream?"

"Oh, there are lots of reasons Lydia. The shriek of a banshee can be put to a variety of different…uses."

"What uses?" Lydia was confused. "I only scream when I feel or am around death."

Valack tilted his head up in a sort of smug fashion. "Sad, when the only sources of information about who and what you are come from a biased family's tome or an overqualified veterinarian. And not just sad for you either."

"What are you talking about?"

"Stop wasting my time!" he suddenly spat out. He had enough of playing Twenty Questions. "Do want me to give you my help or not? People are dying out there. Most of them have been teenagers, correct?"

"How do you know that?"

"Because that's what happens every time the Dread Doctors are active. Bodies of teenagers piled alongside those of their victims. Would you want to know how many died the last time they were here? How many more will die until they're done? And how many do you think will follow should they actually succeed?"

A twinkle flashed in Lydia's eye. She just got some concrete information. "So, this has happened before," she pressed. "Here?"

He nodded. "Yes. And now they're back. All because some teenagers, who never even considered the consequences, wanted to save their parents by dabbling with forces beyond their comprehension. When your friends Misters McCall and Stilinski, along with the late Ms. Argent, blindly decided to reignite a supernatural force that they barely understand!"

Lydia knew that Valack was talking about when they had sparked life into the Nemeton. But that was something only a handful of people even knew. Yet, Valack seemed to know every detail of it, even which of her friends that it was.

"How do you know about that?"

"I know because I saw it."

He then moved to rip off the bandage on his head to reveal the drilled hole in his head. Lydia found her eyes fixating on it just as the eye inside blinked itself open. It was for barely a second when the lights above them started to flicker off and on, drawing both of their eyes away from each other.

"Who did you come with?" Valack demanded.

"My friends," she told him.

"What are they?" But then the flickering got stronger and Valack grew fearful. "You brought a kitsune?!"

The light fixture right behind Lydia blew, startling her.

"What's happening?" she asked him.

"She's disrupting the building's defenses."

Lydia quickly turned to look back at him. "What do you mean? How?"

"It's not just the mountain ash that keeps this building secure. It's the electromagnetic energy. Eichen is built on the convergence of Telluric Currents. Ley Lines. It's what allows it to keep certain supernatural creatures in, and certain others out. They knew you were coming. They're here, and you unlocked the door for them."

"The Dread Doctors?" she whispered to herself.

At that moment, the institute's front gates began to creak open as the Surgeon, Pathologist and Geneticist began to make their way for the building. They made their way through the front door where they were immediately spotted by the orderly at the front desk. His jaw dropped when he caught sight of them and the three of them turned their heads and regarded him slightly as they kept walking. The orderly shrank down and backed away, not having any intention of getting in their way. The three doctors then turned away from him as they headed off for the basement.

"Hit Record!" Valack shouted desperately at her. "Do it now. It costs you nothing!"

Lydia could easily pick out the desperation in his voice. Desperation, and fear. "Maybe not but clearly it means everything to you," she shot back. He glared at her but she just pointedly stared back at him. Lydia was not going to be helplessly used for her powers again. Peter, the Nogitsune, Araya, they all used her for her banshee side and had her be the one to pay for it. Not again. If Valack wanted something from the banshee, then Lydia would make him pay for it first. "If you want me to scream, then you're going to talk first. Why did you write the book? What does it do? Tell me now, or I leave, right now."

"I already told you Lydia. It opens your eyes."

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, you said that but how? How does it do it?"

"It triggers the memory centers of the brain, clearing the fog and bringing the images of the Dread Doctors into focus. I wrote the book in an effort to find out if anyone else like me had ever seen them before."

Lydia's eyes widened. This sounded a lot like the power of her scream. Peter once told her that her scream helps to drown out the noise, help her focus on hearing and better sense the sounds of the dead or dying. It seemed like the book worked almost the same way for memories. Drown out the noise so that these memories could be better accessed.

Valack continued. "I thought I could circulate it, in an effort to trigger someone, anyone else's memory. They'd see the cover, a hint of memory. They read the book, the suppressed memory surfaces, and they'd find their way to me to discover more."

Lydia began to blink. She remembered what she saw during her surgery. Seeing the Dread Doctors appeared over her while she was on the table.

Valack saw her reaction. "It's already started with you, hasn't it Lydia? Fragments of lost memory are clawing their way to the surface. It's what helped draw you to see me."

"Had it brought anybody else before?"

"Well it didn't exactly make the New York Times bestseller list, did it?" he asked critically.

She sighed. "So, all we do is read the book?"

Valack went and threw himself into the glass. "If you've seen them, if they've done something to you, then the book will help you remember. Now, give me what I want!" he demanded desperately.

Lydia looked down at the recorder, glaring at it for a moment, before snatching it up. She then hit record.

During that time, Scott was still trying to calm Kira back down but he was pulled away when the lights above him started shorting out and then blew. Sparks and some broken glass began raining down and he quickly backed away. He then heard a thud and turned to see that Kira had collapsed.

"Kira!" he cried just as another light fixture nearby blew out.

He ran over to her to try and help her but the moment he reached over to touch her, he felt himself get zapped. The force of it sent him flying off into the gate. The disturbance drew the guard back and he went over to try and help Scott up.

"You alright?" he asked him.

Scott nodded. "But something's happening, and…I think she's the cause of it," he said, looking back at Kira who was still unconscious and sparking off.

"We have to get her out of here, now."

Scott saw that the sparks surrounding Kira seemed to be getting bigger and stronger. "But, how can I move her when I can't even touch her?"

But suddenly, Scott detected the smell of fresh blood and there was a sound of something falling behind them. Both Scott and the guard turned to see that another security guard had fallen, stabbed by the Surgeon. He yanked the blade of his cane out of the man's back before he stood up and faced them, with the other two walking from behind to stand beside him. They stared right at them, making both of them internally freak out.

"I think you better run," the guard said stiffly.

But Scott shook his head as he looked back over at Kira. "No, I can't leave her."

The Surgeon moved to begin opening the door and the guard's panic skyrocketed.

"I can," he said before he bolted off, leaving them.

Scott stared shocked at being abandoned before he heard the creaking sound of the door opening as the Surgeon opened the way for him and the others. Scott quickly moved to try and get to Kira again but she was still sparking. Scott grit his teeth and moved to grab her as he felt the electricity pour painfully into his body. It was starting to burn him both inside and out. He tried to bare it as he pulled her into his arms and lift her up. The Doctors were moving closer and Scott tried to go as fast as he could down the way the guard did. The Doctors just kept walking, not bothering to give the way they went down a second thought or glance.

* * *

After spending some more time together at the mall, Liam, Mason, Brett and Lori all got into Mason's car and he drove them all over to Satomi's house. The four of them got out and made the trek up to the front door.

"Hey," Lori said a bit timidly. "This was nice. To just go out and hang like this, you know, with everything that's happening."

Liam moved to stuff his hands into his pockets. "Uh, yeah. Totally. It was, nice."

Brett and Mason were off to the side, silently watching this awkward exchange with differed degrees of amusement. Mason wanted to avert his eyes from this train wreck while Brett was trying to keep himself from bursting out in laughter. Mason saw that Brett was fighting to pop and moved to grab him.

"Hey Brett, I need to use the bathroom. Mind showing me yours?" he said pulling him to the door.

"What? Oh yeah, sure," he said at Mason's pointed look. It was clear that he wanted for his sister to have some privacy with Liam.

He then moved to open the door and leading them inside, leaving Liam and Lori alone. Lori looked after them with a somewhat annoyed glare while Liam moved to nervously rub at his neck. It was obvious that they went inside to leave the two of them alone right now. Liam and Lori were thinking the same thing.

 _'Real subtle you guys.'_

An awkward and embarrassing air seemed to set in and the two teens found themselves avoiding each other's eyes.

"Uh, you want to come in?" Lori asked him after a moment.

"No, I mean, I want to but, I can't. It's starting to get late and I have to get home. You know, school night."

"Right," she sighed out. "Yeah...well thanks for tonight. I really appreciate it. Brett too, even if he doesn't say it."

Liam could feel that she was still quite depressed. He moved to remove his hands from his pockets and took a step closer to her. "He won't get away with this," he said to her in a somewhat hard voice.

"Who?"

"The one that killed Wilson. Just like the Chemist didn't get away with killing those others during the Deadpool. When we catch him, he's going to be sorry."

Tears began to fall from her eyes. "What if we can't? What if it was one of these freakishly strong chimeras those Dread Doctors are cooking up? I mean, Wilson was the toughest one of us next to Satomi and he was taken out. That guy, Lucas, he nearly killed the four of us the other night. What if whoever killed Wilson decides to come after another or the rest of us?"

Liam just stared at her for a moment before he took another step closer. "None of will let that happen, okay?" he told her in a light tone. He then took another step and was directly in front of her. "I won't let that happen. I promise."

She lifted her gaze up to meet his eyes. Liam quickly went to move his finger to wipe away a falling tear and Lori seemed to lean into his touch. His hand lingered there at her cheek as he kept staring at her. He then started to lean in closer until his lips met hers in a small kiss. Their lips lightly smacked against each other for about three seconds before they pulled away abruptly.

"Um," Lori sighed as she moved to wipe her face.

"Sorry," Liam said, getting a little red around his cheeks. "I don't know where that-"

Lori cut him off. "No, it's...fine," she said, ducking her head down a bit.

They were spared saying anything else when the front door opened and Mason walked back out.

"Alright, all done. You ready to head back?" his friend asked him.

"Yeah," Liam heavily sighed out. "Bye," he said, giving Lori an awkward wave.

"Bye," she waved back.

The two boys hopped into Mason's car and Lori just stood there, watching them until the reds of the car's taillights disappeared down the road before she headed off into the house.

* * *

Stiles was dashing through the forested wilderness at a breakneck pace, picking up speed as he kept running passed the trees. As he ran, he let out hard barks with every hard breath he took. Out of the blue, in the midst of his running, Stiles dropped down on all fours, picking up speed as his longer nails dug into the air and propelled him faster down the woods. Usually, he refrained from running this way as it felt too foreign, not to mention he always thought it kind of weird, but right now it seemed just fine. He came upon a small watering hole and made a giant leap over it. He was keeping his gaze out in front of him but had Stiles looked down, he would've seen the water not reflect a leaping boy back at him. It was reflecting a giant, dark haired wolf caught in mid-leap. He cleared the hole and landed firmly on his two feet where he resumed running back on his usual two feet.

He kept running for who knows how long. It could've been a couple of minutes or a few hours. But, eventually he just stopped and went into a crutch as he began panting hard. His body was buzzing as he worked to regain his breath. Every part of him was burning up, with his sweatshirt darkened with sweat as his face glistened slightly in the dim moonlight. His face and ears began to slowly regress back to the normal human appearance though his eyes retained their blue glow. When his breathing seemed to settle back, Stiles saw that his hands were still the same as before. He sighed out in irritation before he started to take in where he was. He saw a familiar flat rock in front of him, overlooking the twinkling lights of Beacon Hills in the distance. He knew this place. It was where he and Wilson had sat and talked that night after bumping into each other in the woods. Somehow, he had ended up here after all that blind running. Unless, it wasn't blind at all. Was he trying to come here all along?

His expression fell as he realized that this was the last place that he had seen Wilson alive. That he would never see the guy again. He moved over to the rock and let his clawed hand reach over and touch the surface of the rock. As soon as he did, Stiles' eyes zoned out as he found himself staring right at Wilson. He had that same firm but calm expression on his face as he stared and talked with...himself. Stiles was looking at himself. Not only that, but he was feeling a mess of strong emotions drifting in the air. Strong and powerful chemo signatures of anger, comfort, bitterness, solace, suspicion and...kinship. He was tapping into an event scar. One that was left over from that night. With all these feelings that were running through him that night, he guessed it left a pretty strong one because he could clearly hear Wilson's voice as he talked with him, and his own talking back. They seemed to be getting to the part when Wilson was telling him to follow up on his suspicions of Theo when he seemed to sense something amiss. He looked away from the past him and Wilson and looked about to find a pair of glowing eyes in the distance. Someone had been watching them.

Suddenly, the scar faded and Stiles found himself back in the present and his breath was caught in his throat as he moved to settle his breathing back again. Wilson had told him that he'd been on the hunt for someone before they had run into each other that night. What if that someone was the one that killed him? Wait, no, it was Donovan. The guy had told him that he had eaten a werewolf that night. Eaten...but that didn't mean he was the one that killed him. That night, Stiles had been too distracted and focused on his talk with Wilson but just now Stiles had noticed the change in the air when the two of them began talking about Theo. About his suspicions and Wilson had given him tips on how to pursue and confirm them. And, the day after, Wilson just happens to be killed and Stiles gets attacked right after? That didn't feel right to him. Is that why he came here? Was something in him trying to tell him that it all isn't a coincidence, even though his father always taught him that two always was. Stiles then looked at his hands to see that they had shifted back to his normal human hands. He thrust his hands down and his claws came back, his every day, normal claws. He let out a sigh of relief before his eyes narrowed in focus.

He started to make his trek back to jeep, not looking back to see that he had done something to the rock when he tapped into the event scar. Under his trance, he had used those longer claws to carve something onto the surface of the sitting rock, a mark. It was in the shape of an inverted double spiral.

* * *

Right outside the institute, Jordan Parrish pulled up in his deputy van. He quickly spotted Scott's bike parked off to the side. He let his eyes go to the dark silhouette of the grim building. He remembered his last visit to this god forsaken place. He didn't like the fact that Lydia was here again. Well, at least Lydia still had Scott and Kira with her, even if Stiles had decided to just leave. But before comfort in that thought could set in, Jordan noticed that the gate was wide open. And, it looked like the lights inside were flickering, in multiple rooms. One of them suddenly seemed to burn out and let out sparks inside.

"That's not a good sign," he muttered to himself.

He then threw himself out of the car and started to run passed the front gate and head for the main building. He then noticed that there was someone already heading out.

Scott was desperately moving out the front door and got a few feet outside before he found his feet giving out from under him. As he dropped, the electricity coming out of Kira's body dissipated. Scott looked up as Parrish ran over to them. He then remembered that Lydia had called him.

"What happened?" the deputy gasped as he knelt down next to them.

"They're here. The Dread Doctors," he groaned out.

Jordan then gave a look around. "Where's Lydia?"

He looked back towards the building. "She's still in there."

The very next moment, Jordan threw himself to his feet and hurried into the institute. Scott felt his body getting numb and heavy, still feeling the effect of the electricity that ran into his body.

"At the club," Kira panted out. She was weak and tired herself. "You…you said."

Scott cut her off. She was talking about when he said that he loved her. "I know. I remember. And I meant it."

Jordan got his gun out and ready as he rushed inside the reception area and found the desk orderly, cowering in a corner.

"Where'd they go?" he asked the man.

He was shaking as he pointed off the direction to the basement and Jordan rushed inside.

Lydia had stopped recording when she was done screaming and everything around her seemed to come back into focus. She saw that there was now an alarm sounding and thuds as the inmates seemed to be going wild in their cells. Valack was extending his hand for the recorder but Lydia didn't let it go.

"Give it to me!" he shouted at her.

"Tell me what they want?" she demanded as she held the recorder up at him. "What are they trying to do?"

"Read the book," he spat at her. "Anyone who's come into contact with them."

She almost rolled her eyes again at him. "Yeah, you've said that already. But what do they want? I know you know. No more games."

"Give me the recorder Lydia!" he said impatiently.

"Not until you tell me. What are the Dread Doctors after? Why are they doing this?"

But before he could say anything else, there was a sort of strange cracking sound through the air. One that made both Lydia and Valack's spines tingle in fear.

"It's them," Valack gasped. "Lydia, give me the recorder and go back to your friends. Now!"

Lydia could start to hear faint but incoming sounds of heavy footsteps. She bit the bullet and slammed the recorder down at the slot and began to bolt out of there. Valack screamed for her to read the book one last time as she moved to turn down the corner. As she did, she looked over and caught the silhouettes of the three Dread Doctors approaching. They stepped into the light and came into better focus as they stopped walking and looked over at her. Her eyes widened as the image of the memory from the OR came back to her. Her insides froze up and nerves tensed up as they seemed to stare right into her.

The Surgeon's head tilted as he analyzed her and then looked about to see that she appeared to be by herself in this wing. They already found the alpha and the kitsune and now they found the banshee but it seemed that it was just the three of them. The boy with the awakening prime power didn't appear to be with them. Theo had told them that he would be here as well but was nowhere to be found for some reason. Theo's information was wrong. The Surgeon would be having words with him. He had hoped to try and collect another fresh genetic sample from him while they were here. But, they had to stay on task.

Lydia shook herself out of her shock as she began to bolt out of there. The Doctors watched after her for a moment before they turned and went down the hallway to Valack's cell, letting her go. Valack was standing in wait for them as they approached his cell. The man tried to keep his composure but it faltered when they moved and opened the cell and he began to back away. The Surgeon entered first and Valack kept backing off until his back hit the wall just as the other two came in. They just stared at him and Valack was filling with frantic suspense. He saw a small opening and went for it. Tried to run but the Geneticist caught and grabbed him, holding him at back as he was dragged before the Surgeon. The Pathologist took out a device and handed it to the Surgeon.

"You don't have to do this," Valack pleaded.

The Surgeon didn't regard his pleas at all. He raised the instrument, which looked like hooked plies and hovered it over his third eye slot. As it was jammed down, Valack screamed as he felt the pain of the device stabbing into him. Just before his eye was ripped out, Valack saw something. An image. But then the Surgeon went and yanked out his eye. He was then let go and he fell unceremoniously to the floor. The three of them stared down at him before the Surgeon went and dropped the eye into a small glass bottle. He regarded it for a moment before they slowly made their way out of the cell, closing the door behind them, leaving Valack to writhe.

As they left him there, Valack took the recorder and placed it into a discarded paper cup. He held it up to the glass of his cell and hit the play button. After a second, Lydia's banshee scream began to sound out and the glass began to crack. He couldn't help but smile as the cracks rapidly grew in the glass. This was one of the 'uses' that Lydia's screams possessed. Her high-pitched screams, concentrated and focused, could serve as a useful tool and weapon. And he would use it to shatter through the glass and mountain ash, granting him his freedom. And he would be free as developments were beginning to become interesting, if his final vision before he lost his eye said as much.

The image of a bestial werewolf claws, carving an inverted double spiral into a large stone.

The glass then shattered and broke apart.

Lydia was stumbling about, trying to move through the halls as the alarms kept sounding and the people and creatures in the cells kept pounding against their doors. Her heart was pounding like a jackhammer and her breaths were hard and rapid as the image of the three Dread Doctors flashed in her mind. Being so close to them, having them stare right at her like that, she couldn't stop her shaking. She found her feet starting to give out and she let herself collapse in some empty room. It wasn't clear if this was from fear, anxiety, or something else. But tears were beginning to fall from her eyes. What was happening here in their town? What was _going_ to happen? Lydia couldn't help but had a hunch in the back of her mind telling her that when all this was said and done, whatever it is, not all of them were going to make it. She didn't know if it was just nerves, or the banshee in her talking. She prayed it wasn't the latter.

"Lydia!" she suddenly heard call out.

"Jordan?" she mumbled to herself before she desperately shrieked. "Jordan!"

She then pushed herself back to her feet and tumbled out for the exit of the ward. She saw Jordan coming out from the other end of the hall, gun out and ready, with a frantic but alert look on his face.

"Lydia!" he cried out as soon as he saw her.

Lydia bounded over for him as Jordan broke into a hard run to her. She threw herself into him and he closed his arms around her in a hard hug.

The two of them made their way out of Eichen House, Lydia slightly leaning off of him, as they came upon the sight of Scott and Kira lying out on the ground, passed out while holding each other.

* * *

A/N: The plot is thickening now, isn't it? Before, signs of the beast only seemed to come out when Stiles was in extreme life-threatening danger. Looks like its the first time it found its way to the surface, outside a desperate life or death situation. Stiles has caught a scent, one that will lead him on Theo's trail. Let's see where that will take him. Also, I hope you like the sweet moment with Liam and Lori. But, you could bet things will get complicated soon enough when Hayden comes into the mix.

Also, Stiles' thoughts about Scott and Allison, I couldn't help but place my own thoughts in there about the subject. Scott was worried about how he saw Kira nearly kill Lucas but he shrugs off when Allison repeatedly stabbed Isaac in front of him and was going to kill Derek, out of revenge, misplaced revenge but still. Stiles had been right when he thought that maybe Kira felt she might not have had a choice in that moment but Allison had been planning to kill that night and had helped set up that moment to do just that. Yet, Scott was completely understanding and forgiving about the entire thing. Not thinking anything bad about her in the slightest, even if they broke up later, though he still felt they would end up together again. Don't you agree?


	15. Calm After and Before the Storm

Chapter 14: Calm After and Before the Storm

Eichen House was soon crawling with police, EMT's and even a handful of reporters as the alarms kept blaring off in the building. Sheriff Noah Stilinski pulled in as close as he could to the entrance before he hopped out of his car when he quickly spotted Parrish by the front.

"Sheriff!" the deputy called out when he spotted him heading over.

"Parrish, where are the kids?" he asked immediately.

He pointed off to the side where he saw Scott and Kira huddled on the ground together while Lydia was standing close by, on her phone. He saw that Scott's clothes had burn marks on them and there seemed to be red spots on his arms and face. He had those arms around Kira who looked like she was barely able to keep awake.

"What happened?" he asked them.

"The Dread Doctors," Lydia answered simply. "They came here."

"Are you all alright?"

"More or less," she said as she looked down at her friends. "Kira's powers went out of control. Scott carried her out but he got burned."

"Scott?" Noah asked him.

"I'll be alright," he tried to wave off. "I can feel myself already healing."

"What about the Doctors? What happened to them?"

"They just…disappeared," Lydia told him. "I guess they left when they got what they came for."

"What was that?"

"Valack," answered Scott.

Noah went to run his hand furiously over his face. "Where's Stiles?"

"We don't know," Scott told him.

Lydia waved her phone. "I've been trying to call him for the last twenty minutes but he's not answering."

Noah was starting to get worried. "Why not? Where did he go and what could he be doing right now?"

* * *

Malia was slowly and softly laid on the bed as Stiles moved to hover over her with a soft look on his face as he gazed down lovingly at her. She let herself sink into her bed as she gazed up into his deep honey brown eyes. He then moved down to give her a hard but sweet kiss that she returned just as desperately. After a moment, they slowly broke away.

Stiles moved to run his hand over her brow to softly move some stray hairs out from covering her face. "Man have I missed you," he moaned to her.

She smiled. "I missed you too," she said lovingly back to him. She then yanked at the back of his neck to pull him in for another hard kiss.

They continued to make out, slowly moving to remove the top halves of each other's clothing all while kissing any skin they exposed with their actions. Stiles kissed at her exposed collar bone as Malia moved to pull his shirt off and Stiles moved back and lifted his arms to let her remove it. She then threw it off to the side before moving to kiss at his chest and let her fingers graze his stomach. she lifted it up. Stiles let himself moan as she did before he moved his hands to her shoulders and pushed at them to lay her back flat on the bed. Malia then let herself sink into the mattress as Stiles began to slowly kiss down her body. She closed her eyes and lost herself to the feel every kiss Stiles gave her as he slowly traveled down her body. When he got to her hips, she thought he heard a hungry growl from under his throat which made a small growl escape from hers. She felt his nose graze at her belly button before she felt him rise up and his breath pass over her face but still had her eyes closed.

She then felt his lips over at her left ear. "You are so beautiful," he whispered.

Or at least it was a whisper, but Stiles' voice wasn't the one that it was with.

Malia opened her eyes and saw that it wasn't Stiles hovering over her, but Theo. He was as shirtless as Stiles was a moment ago. In the low lighting, it was plain to see that his body was shaped differently from Stiles. His skin was more tanned and his arms and chest a bit more toned and harder than Stiles' was. But she only let herself notice it for a fraction of a second before the situation caught up with her.

"Theo?" she gasped. "What are you doing here?" She looked around and saw there was no sign of Stiles anywhere.

He quickly moved his fore and middle fingers over her lips. "Shh," he muttered with a predatorial look on his face.

A look that quickly made Malia stop talking and stare back at him. She found her heart pounding and insides heating up as she kept staring at the hungry look in his eyes. Eventually he moved in and kissed her. It was forceful and dominant and Malia found herself answering it hungrily in kind. Her hands moved to his back, digging her nails in to draw blood, as Theo began to roughly move his hands down her body. Hard growls and moans started escaping from both of them as they kept kissing and rubbing against each other.

It all ended when Malia gasped and sat up in her bed. She found that she was in her room, alone, and had a layer of sweat on her brow. Her breathing was fast paced and she held a hand up against her racing heart. Malia looked over at her clock and saw that it was past one in the morning. It had been a few hours since Theo had taken her home after that incident on the road.

She just sat there, for a few minutes, just cooling herself down and feeling a pit in her stomach as she dwelled on what she just dreamed. Though, she did remember that she still felt a bit of Theo's lingering warmth and scent on her when she was about to get ready for bed. As well as sending a good night text to Stiles and wishing everything went okay at Eichen. Was all that what triggered that weird dream? And why did a part of her wish it hadn't ended? She let a frustrated huff loose as she let her head fall back and land right on her pillow.

* * *

Cora was holding a small bottle of formula up to Jason's lips but he just stared at it, making no move to have any. She sighed as made the tip touch his lips.

"C'mon Jason, eat. You must be hungry."

But her son just kept up his stubborn streak and kept moving his head away from what his mother was giving him. Cora let out a frustrated growl as she pulled the bottle back.

"Problems?"

Cora rolled her eyes as she looked over at Derek, who seemed to be amused at her aggravation.

"Aren't you observant," she hissed at him. "He won't let me feed him."

"Well, did you think that he maybe just isn't hungry?"

"He's a baby. They're hungry at least ten times a day. Jason hasn't eaten since lunch."

Derek moved over to them. "Okay, that is strange but that's no reason to start jumping up the walls."

"It's not just this. He's been crying and screaming for no reason and now he isn't eating. These last few days, Jason has been acting so neurotic."

"Considering who his father is, maybe that shouldn't be so much of a surprise," he threw in playfully. He looked up to see that she was giving him a very intimidating bitch face. "Just a joke."

"Not a very funny one." She sighed before she moved to sit down on the nearest chair.

"Look, it'll be okay. Give him another half hour or so and he'll start balling for him to be fed."

She sighed out heavily. "Yeah, alright."

"Why are you still so upset then?"

"I don't know, maybe your constant criticism."

"What are you talking about?"

"Him," she said as she looked over at her son. "Jason. Every time there's a problem, you always manage to bring Stiles in as the reason I'm having it."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Well, he sort of is. After all, he's the reason why Jason is even here."

"And that's why you have a problem with him. You liked him well enough before."

Now Derek rolled his eyes. "No, I tolerated him. Barely at that. And that was before he used my baby sister."

"It wasn't like that."

"No? Stiles went and swooped in when you were hurting. Took advantage of the whole thing and got himself lucky."

Now Cora rolled her eyes. "Oh please, if anything I used and took advantage of _him_."

Derek quickly turned to head on out. "I don't want to hear this."

"Yeah, that's always been your problem," she spat out.

That made him stop and turn back to look at her. "What are you talking about?"

"Whenever anything gets too serious or uncomfortable for you, then you just take off until you think it's gone away. You go off and do whatever you want and get mad when things happen or turn up when you finally decide to come back."

"Oh really?" he said, challenging.

"Yeah, really. Kate, Boyd, Isaac, Jackson. You sure you want me to read off the whole list, cause it's quite long."

Now he was glaring at her. "And what, you think by taking Jason yourself and not telling Stiles about him you're being selfless? What, you trying to be like mom?"

She furiously pointed her finger at him. "You, you don't know what you're talking about."

"No? You aren't trying to keep Stiles from knowing about Jason because you think he's needed in Beacon Hills the way that mom kept us because Dad was needed to watch over his own pack and territory halfway across the country? Cause that's what it's looking like to me!"

"No!" she spat out.

At their combined shouting, Jason started to cry. Cora moved over and took him in her arms as she tried to soothe him with shushing sounds and then moved to take the bottle and place it on his lips. This time, he eagerly moved to take it, guzzling the formula down. As he made content sounds as he ate, it seemed to settle and calm down the two Hale siblings.

"Look Cora, I'm sorry," Derek started. "I'm just trying to understand why you didn't want Stiles to know that you got pregnant. Or about Jason. It feels like you're trying to protect him or something."

"Well, at least one person should. He's earned that much."

That made Derek's eyes widen. "What do you mean by that?"

She tensed up a bit. "I mean that…Stiles always tries to help everyone else, but hardly anyone ever tries to help him. I might not have known him for too long, but I saw enough. He always tries to help take weight off everyone's shoulders whenever he can. His dad, Scott, Lydia, you, me. But no one seems to ever do that for him. He takes all his own weight along with everyone else's. And he doesn't complain about it. Not once. I don't know, maybe I just want to pay him back for wanting to help me with my weight by not adding Jason's colossal weight on him too because I know he would want to try to take it all himself."

Derek just stood there, stunned. He didn't know what was more shocking. The fact that she just told him something so in depth about Stiles that he himself completely missed, or at how insightful she had just sounded just now. For a moment, he was reminded of their mother just now. He hated that he used her to mock Cora a couple of minutes ago.

"Well…I guess you're right. Stiles does like to take on more than he has to. Than he should. I never thought of it that way before. I always just thought he liked being nosy and annoying."

"Oh no, I think he actually does. That's the problem." That made them both share a small chuckle. "Look, it's not like I want him to not know about Jason forever. Just until he gets enough room to. Which should be easy. After all, only you, me, Maggie and Peter know about Jason and who his father is. And Peter's locked up tight at Eichen."

Cora moved down to readjust Jason's bottle a bit so she didn't see Derek flinch. That was because there was one more person that knew the truth. And he was in Stiles' company constantly and knew that he had been wrestling with the truth for a while. And made it clear how he felt that Stiles should know, soon.

* * *

Virgil was underneath a suspended car as he was worked on giving it a well needed oil change. There was rock music playing from the car radio as he worked. It was the last car he was working on for the night. Thankfully, it was a night his boss wasn't making him work late on, without pay. There was another mechanic there with him and he was treating a dent in the door of another car. He didn't mind the music while they were working and while his boss might have a few words to say about it, he had left earlier. It had been a pretty decent and easy day and it looked like it would be a good and stress free night too. That was until the music stopped suddenly and a reporter's voice sounded off.

"We interrupt this broadcast with an important breaking news bulletin. There has been some sort of domestic disturbance over by the Beacon Hills mental institution Eichen House. The Sheriff's Department has put out a statement that it had been sparked by an electrical discharge that had hit the area. Apparently, this caused a few of the automatic locks to disengage and a few patients had gotten out of their rooms and run amok. No fatalities had been reported and the patients are being re-accounted for."

"Wow," Virgil's co-worker muttered, snapping him out of his stupor. "Madness at the Madhouse. Go figure."

Virgil couldn't help but snort. "Yeah."

He had heard some stories about Eichen House since he had moved to this town. A few of the guys at the bowling alley and the bar have talked about it before. Lots of urban legends about suicides and odd rumors about the people that go there, and that work there. It had made his list about the 'strange' things that seem to revolve around this town.

There was suddenly a howling sound drifting through the air, coming from the trees across the street that lead off into the woods. It caught both Virgil and his fellow mechanic's attention.

The other guy rolled his eyes. "Probably just a dog."

Virgil narrowed his eyes. "That's no dog." He knew dog howls. He heard them a lot in his old neighborhood back in San Diego. And they never sounded like that.

The guy shrugged his shoulders. "Then it must've been a wolf. Tend to hear different kinds of howling a lot around here these days. Don't worry about it."

He moved to get back to work while Virgil moved to look out at the sky, towards the half moon.

* * *

Lydia was sitting out by her pool, just letting her feet soak in the water as she just stared off into the rose bushes at the other end of her backyard. She barely registered someone moving towards her and he sat down next to her, handing her a small mug.

"Half and Half with a splash of cream," Jordan said with a light smile.

Lydia smiled as she took it. "You remembered."

"You remembered mine. Seems only fair." He then stuck his bare feet in the water as he settled himself in.

"Thanks." Lydia moved to take a small sip of her coffee as she resumed staring off.

"Where's your mom?" he asked before taking a sip of his own coffee cup.

"Still at the school I think. She said she would be grading reports and might have to pull an all-nighter." She barely blinked as she kept looking off at nothing, with her mind going a mile a minute.

Jordan's face fell a bit at the troubled expression on Lydia's face. "What's wrong? Are you still worried about those…Dread Doctors? By the way, not really liking the name."

A small grin broke through. "Yeah, I don't think anyone does. And, yeah I'm still worried about them, but, it's something else."

"What?"

"Valack, he said something to me when I talked to him. He told me that the only reason the doctors are even here is because of the Nemeton. Because of what we did, giving it back its power."

"Wait, you don't think this is all your fault, do you?" He took her silence as a yes. "Lydia-"

She cut him off. "It is. If they're really here because of the Nemeton then this is our fault. Scott and Stiles are sure going to blame themselves for this. I know because I blame myself for this. I was part of the ritual too." She had been the one to hold down Stiles in that tub of water that night. And since then, the Nemeton had been bringing nothing but trouble. The Nogitsune. Kate. The Walcotts. And who knows how many others that have been hiding or escaped their attention. Now, the Dread Doctors.

"Lydia, you shouldn't listen to that guy. He doesn't know what he's talking about."

"Actually, he seemed to know a lot more than he should when I talked to him."

"What do you mean?"

"He knew all about me, even things that I don't know. And, I think he knows about you too."

That made him stiffen up a bit. "Me? Are you sure?"

"He didn't say you specifically, but yeah. I think he really was talking about you."

Jordan blinked for a moment and then shook his head. "No. He was probably only trying to get inside your head. To make you do what he wanted."

But Lydia shook his head. "No, he wasn't lying. I felt that he wasn't. He must've used that third eye of his."

"Yeah, well that doesn't mean that he's right. Okay, you and your friends couldn't have known that all this was going to happen."

"That doesn't mean it isn't our fault," she threw in. She then let her head bow down a bit.

Jordan set his mug down and reached over for Lydia's hand. "Lydia, look at me," he said strongly, but softly. That made her slowly move to catch his eyes. "You aren't to blame for this. None of you are. The Dread Doctors aren't your fault. None of you the reason why they're doing what they're doing. That's on them, not you. And it hasn't been all bad you know."

"Yeah, how?"

"It brought me, didn't it?" he said, raising his eyebrows at her with a calm and charming smile. "If it wasn't for the Nemeton, we probably wouldn't have met."

Lydia let herself deflate as she let that small fact sink in. It was true. The Nemeton had brought Jordan to Beacon Hills. Kira, her family and Satomi's pack too now that she thought of it. "Yeah, but we still don't know what you are yet."

"Yet," he emphasized. "And sure, we still don't know what I am, but whatever it is I know that I will try to do whatever I can to protect the good and innocent people here in this town. Just like you and your friends have and always do."

Lydia stared at Jordan for a moment and then let her head move and rest up against his shoulder. Jordan moved his arm over to pull her closer to him and let his chin rest against the top of her head. They then moved to stare at the waves in the pool together, still embracing each other. As they stared, Jordan's eyes flashed a faint orange glow.

* * *

It had taken Stiles a good while before he was able to make his way back to where he had left his jeep. He hadn't been in as much a hurry getting to it as he had leaving it earlier. He didn't know what time it was because or how long he had been out here because he had left his phone in his jeep when he bolted from it. His walk had been slow, as much of his focus was in staring and dwelling at his hands. Or rather at the claws that had appeared at the end of them.

This wasn't the first time that this happened. As he walked, he started to remember it had happened before, and not just during his fight with Donovan. It was during that night in La Iglesia when they all fought against Kate. It was how he was able to break through and pierce the Berserker's armor. After it had exploded, Stiles had been shocked and had looked at his hand and seen the claws there. He hadn't been able to dwell on it then because he had gotten distracted by everything else that followed and then completely forgot it once it was all over. But now he remembered.

Stiles decided to shift his hands and bring out his claws and saw that they were still how they normally were. But Stiles could feel a slight tingle underneath within his fingers. He put more force as he focused harder in his shift and his claws began to slowly extend. His eyes widened but he kept it going and soon enough, the longer and sharper claws from before were back.

He looked over at a thick tree to the side before looking down at his new claws. Stiles sighed before he raised his right hand and struck at it. Instead of leaving five solid lines in the bark, a chunk of the tree had snapped off, his claws digging through the bark and ripping out a small section of the trunk. And it felt easy. Stiles thought it was like cutting through paper, funny enough.

"This is-" He seemed to struggle to find the right thing to call what this was before he just shook his head as he gazed at his new "super" claws. "I don't even know what this is."

He then kept walking and eventually made it to the area where his jeep had been left. It wasn't like Stiles couldn't guess what was going on with him. After all, something like this had happened before…last year. Before and even during the night of the lunar eclipse, he had been feeling changes in his shift.. But, after what happened with the Nogitsune, he thought that was the end of it. After he got turned back, he had even gone and asked Deaton and the man told him that his wolf had been crippled and regressed which is why it took him a while to get used to being a werewolf again. He said the chances of the rank and power of the Beast emerging from him were almost non-existent.

"Almost, but not completely," he muttered, audibly finishing that thought.

When he learned that he was able to tap into event scars, a rare werewolf ability, the reason why was pretty obvious. And he had a hunch that both Deaton and Satomi probably knew it too. Deep down, Stiles felt what was happening but he guessed he had been trying to live in denial and pretend it was nothing. But, he couldn't. He couldn't deny what this all had to mean. The Beast was coming back for him.

As he caught sight of his jeep, he sighed in relief even though he was feeling anything but. Stiles didn't know what to think or do about this. After all, it wasn't like they didn't already have enough issues and problems to deal with already. Like tonight for instance. At that train of thought, Stiles then remembered all about their plan to see Valack at Eichen House.

"Oh crap," he coughed out as he moved to run for the rest of the way and hop into his car.

He had completely forgotten that he Scott, Lydia and Kira still there. Or were, seeing the time as soon as he got to his phone. Stiles had left Eichen and been out in the woods for over four hours. There were also near a dozen messages from his father, Scott, Lydia and Malia. He quickly moved to start listening to them and his eyes lit up when he heard the news that there was an attack at Eichen from Scott, Lydia and his dad. He went to start up his car but the engine just coughed and didn't start.

"Figures," he said as he let his head bang against the steering wheel.

He opened his glove compartment and reached for the roll of duct tape.

* * *

Theo was thrown up against the wall of the lab and fell to the floor in a small heap. The Geneticist had thrown him and the Pathologist was making his way for the boy, lifting him by the scruff of his shirt and then started to lift him by his throat while the Surgeon stood calmly to the side, watching. Theo was brought to his feet and made to face in the Surgeon's direction.

"You were wrong," the Surgeon muttered in his distorted voice.

Theo quickly shook his head. "No, it wasn't. I swear," he said quickly and apologetic. "Scott told me himself they were all going there together. Him, Lydia, Kira and Stiles. How was I supposed to know that Stiles would leave or that deputy would show up?"

The Surgeon tilted his head slightly at him before turning away. At that, the Pathologist released Theo, making him back up a few steps as he moved to straighten his clothes before rubbing at his throat.

"Progress is slow," the Geneticist said to the others.

"Four failures already," the Pathologist threw in.

"Subject Four appears stable," the Geneticist said back.

"No progress," the Pathologist pointed out. "Best to move on."

The Geneticist nodded. "Predisposed failure. Recommend termination."

"Agreed," the Surgeon muttered.

The Geneticist pulled out their syringe pumping device to emphasize the decision.

Theo let go of his throat. "Hey, you don't have to be so hasty. Courtney could still prove useful."

"Not for us," the Surgeon told him, still not looking at him.

"Well, I could still use her," the teen coughed out.

"Inconsequential," the Surgeon said simply. He then reached into his jacket and pulled out the tiny vial containing the small collection of Stiles' blood. "Incoming subjects may bring promise."

"Yeah? Well good luck then. Just don't you forget what you promised me," Theo spat before he moved to leave the lair.

The three barely reacted to his exit. They moved to look on at the vat filled with green liquid where the body of the genetic template was housed.

As Theo stomped off, he took a look back as his mind went into thought. Their reaction to why Stiles hadn't been there was a little surprising. Even though they didn't say why, Theo could see that it seemed important, maybe even vital. He would have to keep a closer eye on Stiles. Which wouldn't be easy as the guy was too suspicious and wary to be too close to him for long. Fortunately, he had a little something he could use to get around that, in the form of a blood stained wrench. He would just have to wait until the time was right.

* * *

Noah was pacing around in his kitchen nervously, his heart beating almost a mile a minute as he waited for his son. He let out a giant aggravated but relieved sigh when he heard the familiar sound of his son's jeep pulling up into the driveway.

"Stiles?!" he called out as he headed for the front door.

It quickly opened and Stiles stepped through, a little dirty but no worse for wear.

"Dad?"

Stiles didn't get to say more than that as he was enveloped in a tight gripped hug. He could feel the worry pour out of his father as he grabbed him.

"Why didn't you answer your phone?" he asked as he broke away. "I mean, I had to hear from Clark to get some peace of mind."

Stiles had managed to get his jeep to re-start and made his way over to Eichen House. The messages from his friends had told him that the Dread Doctors had attacked the place. When he arrived though he saw that everything looked normal. But, he could smell lingering traces of smoke and…burnt flesh in the air. There was no sign of Scott's motorbike, but there was a sole deputy cruiser parked out front but it wasn't his dad's. It turned out to be Deputy Clark and she told him that his father and Parrish had left with his friends almost an hour ago. He quickly asked if they were all okay and she assured him that they were. She then told him that he should go and get back home and he thanked her before he headed off to do just that.

Stiles went to awkwardly rub at the back of his head. "Yeah, sorry about that. I left my phone in my jeep and didn't have it while I…went away," he decided to put it.

"Away? What happened to you? Scott told me that you just stormed away suddenly after you all got to Eichen House."

He narrowed his eyes as the memory and reason why he left came back to him. "Scott and I were talking and he…said some things and, I got upset."

Noah could hear the hesitation in Stiles' voice. "What things?"

"Uh, just some stuff," he said dismissively. "It doesn't matter now anyway. Is everyone okay? The Dread Doctors didn't hurt them, did they?"

Noah let out a sigh. "Scott got burned a bit and Kira passed out for a bit but they're doing much better. I brought them home to sleep it off. They should be fine by morning. And Lydia, she was just shaken up a bit. Parrish took her home."

"Oh, great," Stiles huffed out in relief as he let his head sag downwards.

As much as Noah could tell that Stiles was worried about his friends, he could also see that he was trying to change the subject. Something was wrong, he could feel it. It reminded him of the time before he learned about what had happened to Stiles and his friends. When they were hiding the fact that they were now supernatural creatures and what they were getting into. Stiles was hiding something from him, something serious. It had to be for Stiles to just up and leave in the middle of everything like that. Noah honestly thought the two of them were passed this stage of hiding things from each other.

"Stiles," he said, making his son look back up at him. "Is there something wrong?"

He rose an eyebrow at him. "Uh dad, have you seriously not been attention?"

Noah resisted rolling his eyes. "I mean, with you?" He deflated a bit as Stiles' face fell a bit. "I thought you and I weren't going to lie and hide things from each other anymore?"

"We're not-" he started.

"You are," Noah cut him off. "Something is bothering you. Really bothering you, I can tell. But, you're trying to hide it."

"I'm not trying to hide anything from you." Stiles was thankful that his dad couldn't hear his heart skip as he said that.

But Noah wasn't buying it. "You know you can talk to me Stiles, right? I mean, I might not always understand a lot of what's going on but I always try to understand as best I can."

Stiles bit his lip back a bit. If he said anything, Stiles knew that he wouldn't be able to stop as soon as he started. Yet, at that moment, he was tempted. He was tempted to just unload and tell his dad everything. Everything that was happening with Scott. With him finding that scholarship letter. With his growing suspicions about Theo. And, with what happened with Donovan.

But before anything else could be done or said, the phone rang. The two of them blinked for a moment before the Sheriff moved to go and answer it. He asked who it was and then listened for a moment before his eyes widened. He then said that he would be on his way.

"What is it?" Stiles asked as soon as he hung up.

"That was Clark. Something's happened at the school."

He then moved to take his jacket, badge and car keys and go for his car. Stiles moved to go with him. Surprisingly, his father didn't say a word about it and just let him tag along.

* * *

A/N: We're now passed the halfway point of part one of this story. It seems that things are getting complicated for a good many relationships, huh? And, Stiles is onto the fact that the Beast is coming back. He is a pretty smart guy. He wouldn't let himself be blind or intentionally delusional about what was happening to him, especially when it had been happened almost once before.


	16. Required Reading

Chapter 15: Required Reading

Stiles was riding alongside his father as they headed off for the school where he spotted the flashing sirens of a pair of police vans off at a corner of the parking lot.

"That's the lacrosse field," Stiles pointed out as his father drove them closer. But his dad suddenly stopped the car before they got closer. "Wait, what's up?"

His dad moved to unbuckle his seat belt. "We better get off here. I don't want my deputies to see you. The last thing we need is word to spread that I'm actively bringing my son to crime scenes in the middle of the night."

Stiles figured that made sense. "Right."

"Stay close but out of sight," his father told him as he got out of the car.

Noah started to stomp on over to the field. He looked back to throw his son a final tip but found that Stiles was nowhere in sight. He shook his head in bemusement before he continued on. When he stepped onto the field, he found Clark was there with another one of his deputies. The lights had been switched on and he quickly saw that there were deep holes dug into the field.

"Sheriff," she called out as she headed for him. "Did Stiles make it back home?"

"Yes, he did. Thanks for the call," he told her gratefully.

"My pleasure."

"So, what have we got?"

"Far as I can tell, vandals. Half a dozen freshly dug holes, each one around six feet deep. Kids deciding to play some kind of a prank."

Noah sighed. If he didn't know about what was really going on in this town, he would probably have assumed the same thing about all this. "Who called it in?"

"Natalie Martin."

His face widened. "Natalie?"

Clark nodded. "She'd been here late grading papers and was on her way home when she stumbled across all this as she was heading for her car. Called us immediately."

"Where is she?"

"Talking with McKenzie." She pointed off to the side and Noah could dimly make her out as he was speaking with another one of his deputies.

"Did she happen to see anyone?"

"No, I don't think so."

Noah looked over the handful of holes spread out on the field before his eyes rose up a bit and saw that Stiles was standing off by the bleachers on the opposite side. He could make out a concerned look on his son's face even from this distance. It looked like there were more 'Chimeras' out there now.

Clark looked over and saw the expression on the Sheriff's face and looked over in the direction that he had been looking at but there was nothing there.

* * *

Oscar was standing in a small clearing in the woods with over a dozen other men and women scattered about. About five of them had their red eyes on display as a way to size each other up as even though they were all equal in rank, they were not equal in power. The hue of the red determined how strong the Alpha was and right now, the one who had the deepest shade of red and had it shining brightest seemed to be the Pawshroud Pack's Alpha. Who just happened to be the one to call for these alphas to all meet. They had also brought one or two betas with them for protection and/or experience. Oscar had brought his Second along as his only protection.

"Alright Oscar, why did you call us all here?" one of the alphas impatiently huffed.

"Yeah, it's not like we annual gatherings around here," said another.

"Well, perhaps that will be changing soon enough," Oscar said, making his poise be strong and firm as he turned to face them all confidently.

"What are you talking about Oscar?"

"I'm talking about the future. Our future." He then started pacing off a bit. "I've gotten word from some contacts of mine that recently, hunter activity has made a marked drop. It seems that many of the hunter families and clans have gone to ground."

A few of them did look surprised though a handful hardly reacted as some of them had already known that.

"Why?" asked one of the surprised ones.

"Apparently, a number of hunters have been getting detained and arrested by federal authorities. Somehow, the feds are being fed legal evidence, enough to have them be arrested. This is driving the bulk of them into hiding."

"Why? Who's doing it?"

"I haven't found out, yet."

One of the wolves moved to put his hands on his hips, confused. "Why do you make it sound like that's a concern? This means we don't have to be looking over our shoulders as often. Looks like a good thing to me."

"So does the sudden calm during a hurricane, until you realize you've only been caught in its eye. I don't think it's a coincidence that all this is happening with the Argents falling from grace after it was revealed that Kate Argent had become a Nagual jaguar and was locked up in Eichen House Mental Institution. There could be in-fighting between families or a rogue hunter to take the Argents' place. Or, this even could be all an elaborate setup to lead us into a false sense of security while they stock and reorganize out of prying eyes."

There was silence for a moment before one of the alphas spoke out, skeptically.

"So, you called all us here so you can share some conspiracy theories? What's next? UFO's?" one of the alphas teased, making a few snort and snicker.

But Oscar wasn't deterred. He kept his poise, even in the face of the mockery he was enduring. "That's only one concern. And it's not even the most pressing one." That made the laughing stop. "I'm sure that some of you have been hearing the same rumors that I have lately. About the events taking shape off on the west coast. Particularly around Beacon Hills.

One of the other alphas nodded. "Who hasn't? Boogeymen in masks going off and making genetic freaks."

"Yes," said another werewolf. "It's not exactly the first time this has happened. These stories pop up every other decade or so. The last time they were active was in Russia over about 16 or so years ago. They come in out of nowhere like ghosts, have their twisted fun with the locals, and then they vanish like ghosts when they're done."

"Not true," said another. A woman by the name of Gina Treiber with shoulder length dark hair, her red eyes shining somewhat brightly.

"Sorry Gina," said Oscar. "What do you mean? You don't believe in them?"

"Oh no, I believe in them alright. I just meant that I heard word from the mate of my alpha back when I first was brought into the Moon Beam Pack."

"Jason Conley? Oh god rest his soul. He was a mighty alpha. I wish I had met him."

The sentiment seemed shared by a few others in the group as well.

Gina cleared her throat as some grief passed through her. "Yes, well, anyway, I heard that they had actually were in Beacon Hills area before. About ten years ago. A whole mess of people disappeared, many of them teenagers, only for them to show up, dead. Their insides liquified."

"Well, it seems they stepped up and started releasing mix and match creatures."

"Or-" Gina stressed. "Maybe that's what they were trying to do all this time. Just so happens that they finally cracked the code."

"Actually," Oscar said, pointing over at Gina. "I've had that same thought."

"Yeah…well the heck does any of this have to do with us?" asked the impatient alpha from before. "This is all on the opposite side of the country. It sounds like the only ones this even affects would be the McCall and Satomi packs."

Gina actually rolled her eyes, with a few others. The Hale Pack. The Satomi Pack. The McCall Pack. Many of them felt it was pompous for alphas to name their packs after themselves. A sad common trend with packs west of the Rockies. Even from a True Alpha.

"I'm getting to that," Oscar told them. "Now, I'm also sure that some of you have started to sense the shift in energy recently. The feeling that something big is coming." He stayed silent for a moment and no one said anything to confirm or deny this. Not even the most impatient Alpha. "And I'm sure we're not the only ones. Other werewolves in other parts of the country, maybe even in other parts of the world can feel it. A power is rising. I think that these events in Beacon Hills might just be the catalyst for its arrival. All it needs is a trigger, and a powerful one is forthcoming. The upcoming full moon is no normal one as we all know."

Some of the wolves in the clearing were starting to get edgy. But some were getting irritable.

"Stop with suspenseful build-up and just get to the point Oscar," one of those wolves slurred out. "Just tell us why you called for us to meet?"

"So we could face the facts," he spat out. "In the last two years, too many things have happened all at once. They are either changing or being shaken up. It would be foolish to think that it will stay isolated to the west. Soon, they will spill their way to our neck of the woods, and when they do, I don't want to be caught unawares. For any of us to be," he barked out. He then looked over at Gina. "That's what happened to Jason Conley." That made her gaze drop. "That's what happened to the Hales. I'm not just going to avert my eyes and be caught with my tail between my legs when all this trouble comes barreling down my door like they all were. That is what's going to happen, to all of us. I can feel it, just as I'm sure some, if not all of you can but just don't want to admit it. This isn't a question of "if"…but "when". We have to be ready _when_ it does."

Gina's red eyes narrowed up at him. The memory of her late Alpha on the forefront of her mind. "And just what exactly did you have in mind?"

Oscar's hard face broke slightly as the side of his lips curled a bit as his red eyes gleamed predatorily.

* * *

Malia was turning a bit in her sleep when a hand moved at her shoulder and started to shake her. She gasped and sat up quickly, startling her dad who jumped back a bit.

"Dad?" she breathed. "What is it?"

"You asked me to wake you up early today. Remember, you were going to go to meet with Stiles and the Sheriff at the station?"

She closed her eyes as it all came back to her. They were going to try and put some pieces together after everything that happened at Eichen and with all the new holes they found the other night.

"Thanks," she said gratefully, moving to pull the sheets away and get out of bed.

Henry was about to leave to let his daughter begin to get ready when he noticed the book in Malia's bed. "Still haven't finished that thing?"

She sighed as she stopped to pick up the Dread Doctors book. "No. I'm a bit passed halfway but I haven't been able to get much farther. It's harder to read as you go on. And dangerous."

"Dangerous?" Henry was getting worried. "Why? How?"

"Well, Lydia said that the book was written to awaken memories. It's supposed to trigger memories of people who've seen the Dread Doctors and then forgotten about them."

"Recover lost memories?" Henry mumbled. A far off look came over him.

Malia nodded as she moved to sit at the foot of her bed. "Yeah, and I think it might be working."

"What do you mean?"

"Uh, I saw something the other night."

"You mean, a memory?" Henry moved to go and sit beside her.

She nodded again. "Yeah, but it wasn't about the Dread Doctors. I saw…mom."

Henry straightened up a bit. "What?"

Her gaze fell a bit. "The night of the accident. I saw it."

He heard the pain in her voice. Neither one of them liked to think about that night let alone talk about it.

"Honey, it's okay. Sometimes, I see it too, even when I don't want to."

"No," she cut in. "I mean I remembered it. All of it. It was like…I was there as it was happening all over again. And I saw why it happened. Mom, she didn't crash the car because of me shifting into a coyote that night. It was because she was trying to make sure that none of us got shot."

"Shot?"

Malia nodded, a hard look coming over her eyes. "It was her. The Desert Wolf. She was there, on the road. Shooting at us. She forced us off the road and made us crash. She's why I lost control and shifted. The one that attacked us that night, was my mother."

Henry blinked a bit in shock as he tried to process all of this. They suspected that someone might have been responsible for the crash. But they never knew who it was. Now…they did.

"I saw something too," he mumbled.

"What?"

"The other day. I was doing some work out in front of the house and I saw something in the trees. Two glowing blue eyes. At first, I thought it was you, but then I saw you, and your sister, in the back seat of our old car. You were waving at me as your mother was driving you off. And I looked back and saw that those eyes seemed to be following after you. Then, all of a sudden, it all just disappeared. I-I thought I just daydreaming or something. But, it must've been a memory. Something that I repressed."

"A memory?"

"The last time I saw all three of you. The day of the crash."

"The Desert Wolf…it was her you saw."

"She must've been watching us, our family that day, before she…attacked you three. And with everything that happened after, I must've forgot I saw her."

"And you reading the book brought it back."

The two of them then moved to stare at the book uneasily.

* * *

In the Sheriff's station, Stiles was standing off with Malia beside him as his father was putting the finishing touches on their own crime board to try and make sense of what was going on so far. Currently, they had a few pictures of people that were crossed off like Tracy and Lucas.

As Malia was standing next to Stiles, she tried to push down the feelings of guilt she was getting whenever she got close to her boyfriend. Feelings she was having after that intense dream she had about Theo.

"You okay?" Stiles asked, as he thought she looked bothered by something.

"Yeah, fine," she said with a nod.

Noah shook his head at it all. "Chimeras," he said, drawing their attention to him and the photos.

"Two dead chimeras," Stiles slurred out. "Not to mention one that Wilson was tracking before-" He couldn't finish but they didn't need him to.

"And seven new ones," Malia added.

"So, that's 10 in all," finished Stiles.

"I'm thinking maybe 11," Noah said as he moved to stick a new picture onto the board.

Donovan's picture.

At the sight of it, Stiles bowed his head a bit to avoid looking at the eyes of that picture staring back at him. "11?" he coughed out.

"Some tech guy confirmed something for me. They said that both the holding cell lock and cameras could have malfunctioned because of something electromagnetic." He then moved to reach for the copy of Valack's book on his desk. "You said that these guys-"

"The Dread Doctors," Malia told him.

Noah shook his head. "Are we really going to call them that?"

Malia didn't answer that but got where Stiles' dad was going. "They broke Donovan out."

"It's how they got into Eichen, isn't it?"

Malia nodded. "Donovan's a chimera," she realized.

"The question is, is he a failure like Tracy and Lucas?"

"Well, if he is, he's probably dead." Malia then took the marker and moved to cross his picture out.

But Noah grabbed her hand to stop her. "Not until I've seen a body," he told her.

As the two of them were talking, Stiles had been steadily backing away to the corner of the room. He knew that his father wouldn't be able to see a body, because someone had stolen it already, just like they had with Tracy and Lucas. But, he knew that he couldn't tell anyone that Donovan was indeed dead because he had been the one to kill him. Stiles could feel his nerves starting to stiffen and tense up again.

"You're uncharacteristically quiet," his dad said.

Stiles turned around to see that both his dad and Malia were looking at him with some concern.

"You okay?" Malia asked him.

He nodded as he turned back around to face him. "Yeah," he said, clearing his throat. "Uh, sorry, I was just trying to think. These were all teenagers, right? Valack told Lydia that teenagers were who the Dread Doctors were after. So, shouldn't we be trying to figure out why _these_ teenagers?" He felt his nerves start to loosen as his mind went to work. "If the Dread Doctors went through all of this, burying them, killing them, breaking one of them out of jail-"

Noah was starting to follow along. "They couldn't have been chosen at random," he finished for him.

Malia did too. "They had to have something in common."

"Something that made them right for this experiment."

Stiles nodded. "Something that made them special." He couldn't help but think of the bite. How not everyone was made to become a werewolf and teenagers were usually the preferred choice because they were more likely susceptible to the change. Something about these teenagers made them susceptible to become Chimeras.

"But what?" Malia said, asking Stiles unasked question as she looked off at the pictures of the three teens.

"And why?" he asked. "It's too bad that Valack couldn't have shared that before he went missing."

"Missing?" said Malia. "Valack is missing?"

"Yeah. Before he got Lydia out of there, Parrish went to check on Valack and he was missing from his cell. The glass had all been broken and there was no sign of him."

"Do you think they took him?" asked his dad.

Stiles shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. But, there's something else I think we need to think about."

"What son?" asked Noah.

"How did the Dread Doctors even know to go there?"

"What do you mean?"

"Kira. The only reason that the Dread Doctors were even able to get into Eichen was because Kira was there and somehow disturbed the energies of the building. That's what Valack told Lydia. And they just happen to be in neighborhood when we decide to show up?"

Malia shrugged. "Maybe they've been watching the place. Waiting for a chance to get in."

"In between kidnapping teenagers, turning them into chimeras and burying them?" Stiles said doubtfully. "No, something just doesn't feel right about this."

At that, Noah moved to look back at the photos of the teenage chimeras. He couldn't help but immediately agree with his son's instincts on this one.

* * *

Scott went looking for Theo that morning at school and informed him of everything that happened at Eichen and what they learned from Valack. Theo made a show of reacting to all of it like it was news before he told him about Malia nearly getting hit by a car but had saved her by pulling her out of its way in time. Scott sighed as he moved to stare off at the school grounds, at all the teenagers around them. At all the potential victims for the Dread Doctors' experiments.

"Thanks for helping Malia," Scott said gratefully.

"Right place, right time," Theo shrugged off like it was nothing. "And everyone else? You? Stiles? Kira? Lydia? You're all alright after what happened at Eichen?"

"Yeah, we're okay. Parrish came by and got Lydia out of there. And Kira and I were a little messed up but we're better now."

"And Stiles?" he asked, trying not to sound eager. He wanted to know why the guy wasn't there and earned him a telling off from the doctors.

"Stiles is fine. He wasn't there. He left before things got crazy."

"What, why?"

Scott wondered the same thing himself. When Stiles called him, to tell him about him and his dad finding the new holes, he hadn't said anything about why he left flipped out or where he went. While he felt that Stiles was getting out of sorts for a while, it felt like it just getting worse. Scott was more worried about him, and maybe even a bit scared. But, he couldn't let himself worry about Stiles now. Not when there where probably over half a dozen new chimeras walking around.

"I don't know but right now, we have other problems," he said as his eyes wandered about from kid to kid.

Theo pushed down his annoyance at not getting any info and nodded. "So, we're basically looking for abnormal behavior?"

"Anyone acting a little off or a little weird."

"Isn't everyone a little weird in high school?"

Scott sighed. "Yeah, good point."

He then started to walk off, wrestling with his copy of the book in his hand. Theo moved to follow after him.

"You remember Tracy went on a killing spree after reading that?"

"You think it's a bad idea?"

"I think Malia almost getting run down by a car could've been bad. That's why you guys haven't finished it, right?"

"Well, we're going to." He and his friends had arranged to meet up after school so they could help each other read and watch out for one another to make sure an incident like Malia's happened again to any of them.

Theo sighed out in frustration. "Scott, I came here hoping to find a pack. I wasn't planning on watching one fall apart."

Scott could hear the disappointment in Theo's voice. He was sure that Theo had been expecting to finally relax and feel at ease about being a werewolf when he belonged to a pack that had some old friends in it. He felt bad that Theo was instead facing all this trouble that he didn't ask for. Scott couldn't help but relate.

"The book's all we got."

Theo nodded. "Then, I'll read it too," he shrugged. "If you really think this will work then I'll help you any way I can."

Scott found himself smiling a bit, grateful for the help. He nodded before they went off to go to their next class together. For a moment, Scott felt more assured and confident than he had felt in the longest time. A feeling that Theo quickly picked up on and inwardly smirked at.

* * *

Jordan threw a blow for Lydia but she avoided it and slapped his hand away before trying to throw her knee up at him. Jordan quickly blocked it and threw himself back.

"Arms up," he instructed. "This way you can block attacks to your face and your head while always keeping your eyes on your enemy. Ready?"

She nodded before they went at it again.

They were both currently at his place as he was making good on his promise to teach Lydia how to fight. She had gotten new determination to learn to defend herself after what happened to her at Eichen and hearing that her mother had been the one to find the holes the chimeras dug themselves out of at the school. For her, it was time to stop feeling and being so helpless.

He threw some punches at Lydia darted around to avoid and block each one. She was growing confident as she kept her hands up like he told her. But when Jordan threw his knee up, Lydia brought her hands down to stop it and he quickly sent a punch that got through and sent her back. She let out an aggravated huff while Jordan let a smile loose at her annoyance.

"You're not going to be perfect after a few tries," he told her humorously, trying to get her to settle down.

She let herself pace a bit, to vent her frustration loose before she let a deep breath loose. "Okay," she sighed before turning to get herself ready again. "Keep going."

"You sure? Maybe we should stop after a few-"

"Why?" Lydia cut in.

"I don't want your stitches to get un-stitched." Lydia had just gotten out of the hospital. He thought that she was lucky that nothing happened back at Eichen.

"They're fine," she assured him.

Lydia then moved to unzip her track shirt to expose her bandage. "See, no blood." Now unzipped, she felt her arms didn't feel as restricted so she decided to take it off and free her arms.

Jordan stared as Lydia had exposed herself in her sports bra. After a second, he moved to take off his own track shirt. He had a sleeveless shirt on underneath and Lydia let her eyes fall a bit on his exposed muscular arms. They then moved to throw their track shirts on the nearby couch before facing each other again.

"Ready when you are," Lydia said, raising her arms back up.

Jordan raised his up in kind and they started to circle around each other. After a moment, he threw a blow but Lydia instantly blocked and batted his hand away. They circled a bit more before he threw another, which she also blocked. Jordan went to throw a lower blow but Lydia moved to try and grab his wrist. She then moved to pull on it, to trap him so she could throw her own blow at him. He used his other hand to block it while he reversed her grip on his wrist and pulled her to him.

"What did you do wrong?" he asked her.

"Uh, I forgot to keep my arms up," she heaved.

He nodded. "But don't worry. Your muscles have memory. With enough practice, they'll remember for you."

Lydia started to settle her breathing and then let herself rest against him as he kept holding her. His skin felt quite warm as she felt his arms wrap around her and at her cheek as it began to touch against his. His grip began to get tighter and she began to feel his hard body lean closer into her. She felt him begin to breathe on her as her fell back against his shoulder.

Jordan felt himself leaning in closer to her, finding that he loved the touch of her soft skin. He felt Lydia leaning into him and he moved to wrap his arms fully around her and pulled her in closer to him. As she leant in, he began to smell her shampoo and perfume and felt himself heat up. Holding her like this felt different from the other night. Stronger.

Jordan's hand moved off to take hold of Lydia's and she moved to take it. Yet, when they squeezed their palms together, Lydia flinched as she got a strong mental image of the Dread Doctors flash in her head. She gasped and moved to pull herself away from him.

Jordan gasped. "What's wrong? What is it?" he asked, hoping that he hadn't done something to frighten or scare her.

Lydia stared off and looked down at her bag where her copy of the book was visible. Her eyes fell on the image of the Dread Doctors on the cover. "Muscle memory."

His eyes landed on the book cover and he couldn't help but narrow his eyes too.

* * *

In Scott's living room, there was a stack of copies of the Dread Doctors book, as well as the original, set up on the table with everyone staring down tensely at them. Stiles wasn't thrilled that Theo was there, or that Scott had invited him. Ever since tapping into that event scar the other night his feelings of suspicion towards the guy have only gotten higher but he couldn't raise a fuss as he knew all it would do is just lead to another fight with Scott. For now, he would have to bite his tongue and hope he didn't bring out his fangs as he did.

"My mom's book club usually has more wine," Lydia put out there, breaking the silence.

"Well, they also probably didn't read books that cause violent hallucinations," Stiles threw back.

"That's why Malia's here," Scott pointed out.

"So none of us go running into traffic?" asked Kira.

Scott nodded. "Or worse."

The plan was for all of them to read the book and have Malia on watch since the book already made her go crazed once. Malia had no problem with the plan as she was in no rush to go through what happened at the road again.

"Like what happened to Judy?" asked Malia.

"Judy?" said Stiles.

"Chapter 14," she explained.

Lydia let out a frustrated huff as she moved to pick the paperback copy up. "Maybe I should make my mother read it. She might go on and remember seeing a girl with a tail leaping off the ceiling and attacking everyone."

Her mother hadn't said anything about what had happened at the station with Tracy. She knew that her mother had seen the chimera but either she was letting herself be in denial or having selective memory. Lydia was starting to wonder if she should take a leaf out of Scott and Stiles' books and tell her mother the truth.

"Yeah, if it works," mumbled Stiles doubtfully.

"I saw something," Lydia threw out there.

"What?" asked Kira.

"The Dread Doctors. During my surgery…I think I saw them. When I look at the cover of the book, it's almost like-" She stopped as she was having trouble putting what she wanted to say to words.

"A memory trying to surface," said Theo, making everyone look up at him. Stiles let his eyes narrow a bit at him.

Lydia nodded. "Yeah."

Malia nodded herself. "Same thing happened with my dad."

"Your dad read the book?" asked Scott.

"Just two or three chapters."

"And he saw something?" Stiles asked, feeling worried and concerned. She nodded. "What was it?" he asked after she did.

"He saw…the day of the accident," she said with some hesitation. "The last time he saw me, my mom and sister all together."

Everyone seemed to get uncomfortable after that but Malia found herself a little thankful for that. It meant they wouldn't pry for more. She didn't want them to know that she and her father had seen the Desert Wolf stalking and then attacking her family the day they died.

Kira moved to wrap her hands around herself nervously as the events back at Eichen played back in her mind. "Isn't this what Valack said the book would do? Make people remember?"

"Remember seeing the Dread Doctors," Lydia said, eyeing the copies.

Stiles went to furiously rub his hand at the side of his head. "Okay, say they do really work and make people remember lost memories. How is that supposed help us?"

"If they did something to me," Lydia gave a hard but resolute look at the book's cover. "I want to know what it is." She then moved off to sit down in a nearby armchair with the book so she could start reading.

One by one, everyone moved to the table and grabbed a copy of the book. Scott and Kira moved to take spots on the couch next to Lydia while Theo sat down in a chair next to Lydia. Stiles had gone off with his copy and sat at Scott's kitchen table with Malia following after him. He didn't feel like being around Theo right now, especially if he wanted to focus. Each of them took a deep and braced themselves before they moved to begin reading.

It was a little over an hour after they started reading when the tension and anxiety that everyone had felt was now fully replaced with boredom. Everyone was finding the book bland and tasteless. Scott was finding that he had to take over a minute to read certain pages because his mind easily wandered because he couldn't keep focused on the story. Lydia liked to think that she was a pretty avid reader but she found reading the book to be a difficult and tiresome feat. Kira was having the worst trouble, as she couldn't really see words. The passages all looked blurred to her and it seemed like the letters were jumbling around.

As for Theo, he wasn't even reading anything. He just kept staring at the pages for what he thought seemed like a believable amount of time before he turned the page. In between page flips, he let his eyes wander to others, watching them try to focus on what they were reading. A few times, he cast looks over to the kitchen area where he could make out Malia pacing about and barely made out Stiles' hands tapping on the tabletop from the corner.

Scott looked over at Kira, to see her getting irritable and he found that he was too with this. "Anyone feel anything yet?" he asked out loud.

Kira shook her head. "Tired," she mumbled.

"Hungry," Lydia hissed out irritably.

"Uh, I think he meant the book," said Theo.

Lydia and Kira stared out at each other before they let out deep breaths. Nothing seemed to be happening. Scott was starting to hope that this all didn't end up being a waste of time. Still, he knew they couldn't give up yet. So, he forced himself to just keep reading.

Over in the kitchen, Stiles was working hard to try and absorb as much of the text as he could but he was finding it easier said than done. He found himself reading a bit slower than he was used to in order to try to make sense of this, lack of a better word, story. Valack clearly blamed the wrong thing for why this book never got a second edition. And he found a prickly and itchy heat rise from his right shoulder. He started to subconsciously rub at it and he could feel the residual scarring from Donovan's jawed palm. There was still a bit of skin to grow back.

Malia had moved to pour both of them a cup of coffee when she saw Stiles move to rub at it and sensed his discomfort. "What happened?"

Stiles sniffed as he looked up at her. "What?"

"Your shoulder?"

Stiles quickly tensed up. "What do you mean?"

"Did you hurt it? It's barely there but I can just smell a bit of blood."

"Uh yeah, my engine copped out again before I came here," he tried to shrug off. "The hood fell on me as I was trying to fix it."

It was faint but Malia heard the uptick in a heartbeat as he answered. Stiles had just lied to her about what happened to him. And she wasn't the only one to notice. Theo had been listening in and narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked over in their direction.

Stiles moved for a change in subject. "So, what about you?"

"Me?"

"The other night," he pressed her.

"Uh, yeah. I'm okay. Theo managed to pull me out of the way in time."

Stiles tried to fight the torn feeling of wanting to be thankful towards the guy for that. "No, I meant seeing the accident. Did you see anything else?"

"No," she said shaking her head. "Why?"

Stiles had heard the uptick in her heartbeat when she said No. Malia had just lied to him about seeing something. He figured she must have, as the book was supposed to show lost memories. She didn't want to tell him for some reason. "Just wondering," he shrugged as he moved to lightly rub at his shoulder again.

Neither one of them knew why the other was lying to them. Or why they were lying to the other. Stiles about Donovan and Malia about the Desert Wolf. They were sure the other would understand. Yet, both Stiles and Malia felt the need to keep quiet, as they were scared. Scared that if they said anything, then Scott would find out.

As Malia tried to push her nerves with another sip of coffee, she suddenly felt a small shift in the air and it made her narrow her eyes and turn to look over at the living room to see Theo was looking over at them. Namely her. As soon as she looked over though, he went and turned his head away. She kept staring as he moved to resume his reading.

Stiles removed his hand from rubbing at his shoulder and tried to get back to the book but felt a twinge. He looked up at Malia and saw that she was staring off. He followed her path of vision and it seemed to fall on Theo as he was sitting and reading his copy of the book. He narrowed his eyes as it looked like she was studying him but he didn't find any hint of suspicion in her scent. Instead there was…interest. He slowly began to clench right hand into a tight fist under the table.

Back at the living room, Kira suddenly just sighed and put away her copy before closing her eyes. It didn't seem like trying to read this book would get any easier for her and she was starting to get tired. Scott noticed her looking like she was getting ready to sleep.

"You're not giving up, are you?" he asked her.

"Just resting my eyes," she told him, while moving to make herself more comfortable. She then moved to turn off the lamp beside her before she started to make herself comfortable.

Scott sighed before he went back to reading. He had to shush Malia when she came in and asked a little loudly if anyone of them wanted a coffee before pointing over to Kira. He then moved and carried her off to his room so she could rest before he returned downstairs to everyone.

The rest of them kept reading and waiting for anything to happen to them. But after two more hours, the only thing that ended up happening to them was them all falling to sleep across the living room. Trying to read the book had become taxing to all of them and one by one decided to rest their eyes which turned into just nodding out. For the first time in a while, Stiles found himself not having to struggle to try and rest as he nodded off on his spot on the floor. Even Malia was finding herself wiped from watching over them trying to read and found herself needing to take a small nap herself.

The only one that wasn't sleeping was Theo. As he wasn't putting any real effort into reading the book, he didn't get affected like the others. He felt his phone vibrate and saw that he had gotten a text from Courtney. He had asked her to keep an eye on Satomi's pack while he stayed and watched over Scott's. He had to make the most out of her while she was still around. It was only a matter of time before the Doctors decided to deem her a lost cause and get rid of her. But, before he could open it, he heard some low mumbling.

As Theo walked off to follow the sound, he stepped passed Stiles, who slowly opened his eyes as he did. He saw Theo start creeping his way out of the room, and that creepy vibe he always got from the guy only got creepier. He narrowed his eyes a bit, but they were still heavy from trying to read that book and they closed shut again.

Theo made his way up the stairs and found that it was Kira, twisting and talking a bit in her sleep. He realized that she was repeating something, in Japanese. He took his phone and recorded it.

* * *

Hayden was at Sinema bartending when a guy came up to her to complain that his glow stick was broken. She pointed out that it wasn't broken but the glow had simply run out, he tried to get his money back from her. She just sighed and gave him a new one. He took it and went to go back to partying.

"God, I hate all-ages night," she huffed out.

She headed back out to the floor when she was suddenly approached by Liam.

After school, Liam had gone home to try and do some homework. Try being the key word. His mind however had wandered aimlessly and fell on multiple things. The first of which was on the Dread Doctors book. Scott said he didn't have to read it with everyone. Liam didn't really fight him on that. He didn't feel like he would have any forgotten memories about the Dread Doctors. Why would he?

Then his mind had fallen on the other night, with Lori. He still was having trouble believing that he actually kissed her. He never planned or expected to but it was nice, _really_ nice. Liam sighed as he remembered the feel of her soft lips against his. He didn't know what to feel though. Lori was great, there was no denying that. He started to think that he might actually like her. He knew that she liked him thanks to Brett telling him back at Sinema.

But when the club got into his mind, he suddenly remembered Hayden. Specifically bumping into her and making her angry as she yelled that he spilled two hundred dollars worth of drinks. And he remembered hearing her huff that she wouldn't make enough money. He stopped what he was doing and went over to his bedside drawer to find the rest of the money that he still had on him and left for the club.

When he got there, he quickly spotted her and pulled out his money to give to her. "Forty-three dollars."

But Hayden glared at him. "I said I don't want your money."

He widened his eyes a bit. He didn't remember her ever saying that. "You said that I owe you 200," he reminded her.

"Liam, just forget it," she hissed, wanting to just get back to work.

But before anything more could be said, there was a high-pitched sound and the lights in the club just went out. Thankfully, there was still visibility due to everyone wearing glow rings and waving glow sticks. Everyone was cheering at the new atmosphere but Hayden wasn't. She would have to be the one to fix it. She moved to head for the breakers and Liam followed after her.

"Hayden," he cried, but she kept walking off to try and leave him behind. Liam didn't want to leave at least until she accepted the money. "Hayden," he tried again.

She finally stopped and turned to glare back at him. "Honestly Liam, if you're trying to be a good guy I really don't care."

"I'm just trying to make up for the sixth grade."

" _Nothing_ will make up for the sixth grade," she snapped at him. She then tried to flip the lever on the fuse box but it was jammed. "Oh, come on," she hissed, getting more aggravated.

Liam then moved to grasp the handle, placing his hand over hers. When his fingers touched hers, Liam felt a small tingle fill up his hand and travel down his arm and spread through his body. Hayden stilled as the warmth from Liam's touch and found herself calming down a bit, even though she didn't want to. Liam let out a small breath before he moved to push the breaker lever free and the power and lights in the club all came back on. They stayed together for another moment before everything started rushing back for the both of them and Liam separated from her. Hayden turned around to glare at Liam again and he sighed out in frustration.

"You want to keep hating me, fine, go for it. You said that I owe you 200 dollars." He held up the money again. "So, here's 43 more."

She stared at him for a moment before turning to look down at the money he was patiently holding up to her. Letting out a resigned sigh she moved to lightly take it. Once she did, Liam moved to go and leave her alone. Hayden watched him leave, for some reason, not feeling as much hate for his as before. As for Liam, he rubbed his fingers at his side, where he could still feel the tingle from where he had touched her hand. Not too different from the one he got from Lori.

* * *

"What if we need some kind of trigger?" Scott suggested as he, Stiles and Kira walked through the front doors at the school. "I mean, wasn't Malia driving when she remembered the crash?"

"Yeah, but how are we supposed to trigger a memory that we don't remember?" Stiles pointed out with some frustration.

Everyone was feeling a little irritable at the fact that no good had come from their joint reading venture. Nothing had happened. No one had gone out of their mind, thankfully. But there also had been no sudden lost memories coming to any of them. Not even so much as a random flash.

"Maybe it's a delayed thing," Scott tried to throw out there. "Maybe you have to wait a couple of hours to see what happens."

But before Stiles could throw back that it might not even work if they didn't actually have forgotten memories, the lights along the hallway began to flicker. They stopped walking, in fact everyone in the hall stopped walking, to look up at them before they all slowly went back to normal. As everyone around them went on to carry on with what they were doing, Scott and Stiles took a look over at Kira. She knew what they were thinking.

"That wasn't me. I swear."

"Okay," Scott said, determined. "We keep an eye on each other today."

Stiles nodded. "Yeah, and also keep an eye out for eight other potentially homicidal Chimeras."

"And keep an eye out for the Dread Doctors," Kira finished up.

As Scott led Kira to follow him to their next class, Stiles let out a frustrated sigh. "Starting to see the appeal of a third eye," he said after them.

Scott and Kira went to their usual station at AP Biology, across from Lydia and Theo sitting two stations behind them. Ms Ramsey was giving a talk about invasive species and Scott was trying hard to follow every word she was saying but it wasn't easy as she was speaking quite fast. Kira was trying to make notes as she talked but she found it difficult to keep up herself.

Lydia was calmly letting her mind follow the lecture but her mind began to wander when she noticed the girl in front of her, Sydney, insistently scratching and twirling at her hair. The twirling seemed to turn into yanking.

Theo noticed Lydia staring at the girl and sent her a quick text asking if she thought the girl was a Chimera. He knew that she wasn't, as he could feel that she was simply overstressed, but it presented a good opportunity to try and appear to be helping out and build trust with another member of the pack. He then pointed out in another text that Sydney's hair was falling out.

Lydia looked over and saw that Theo had been right as a small clump of hair was in Sydney's hand. Suddenly, Sydney just got up, making everyone in the classroom look at her. Lydia became nervous as the girl quickly moved over to Ms. Ramsey. But all she did was hand the teacher a course drop form.

Ms. Ramsey nodded when she took it. "A wise decision Sydney." The girl nodded before she tearfully left the room. "Lydia," she spoke out as the girl got up to try and go after her. "You know it's for the best," she tried to reason.

Lydia just stared at her before she headed out the door after Sydney. Scott and Kira shared a concern look before they looked down at the filled out form that Scott himself had ready on his desk. Today was the last day that the drop forms could be submitted. And based on how he was doing in class today, it seemed there was only one choice he could make.

Sydney was sitting off in the guidance office, crying, when the door opened and Lydia peeked inside. She quickly moved to wipe her tears away. "I was just looking for your mom, I mean Mrs Martin."

"Are you okay?" Lydia asked her, concerned.

Sydney then tearfully showed her the lump of her hair that she had ripped off. "Does this look okay?"

Lydia eyed the hair with unease. "How long has it been happening?" she asked, hoping it definitely wasn't Chimera related.

"Three years," she told her.

Lydia's eyes widened. "Years?" she said, a bit shocked.

"It's stress. I've tried everything. Medication, acupuncture, hypnosis."

"Have you tried not taking the hardest classes in school?" she asked, dryly. That actually made a laugh come out from Sydney as she moved to dry the last bit of tears on her face. "Let me see it. Maybe, I can help cover it up."

Sydney looked up at Lydia gratefully before she moved to push her hair back and reveal the spot where she had pulled her hair out. Lydia looked and saw a small reddened bald spot just above Sydney's left ear. As she stared at it, Lydia gasped as the spot seemed to burst and fester right in front of her eyes. She began to back away a few steps before she lost her footing. She dimly heard Sydney shouting as she collapsed and fell to the floor.

Lydia then dimly heard her mother scolding her to have stayed in the car. The room around her faded away and Lydia found herself standing in what looked like the hallway she had visited at Eichen House. She walked through the gate and moved down the hall until she came upon a room that was open. She looked inside and saw that her mother was there with a woman in a tub. A familiar looking woman and she had a hole drilled into the side of her head, just above her ear.

' _Grandma?_ ' she thought hysterically.

Her mother turned and started shouting at her. "I told you to stay in the car!"

The other woman turned to stare right at her. "They're coming Lydia. They're coming for all of us. Lydia-"

"Lydia?!"

She gasped as she found herself looking right up at Scott's face. Her hand was shaking and he moved to hold it and steady her.

"I'm okay," she told him, before swallowing and trying to sit up.

Theo was standing behind him. "You remembered something?" he asked her.

"Not about the Dread Doctors. Nothing about them or the surgery."

"What was it?" Scott asked, before moving to help lift her to her feet with Theo rushing to help too.

Lydia got to her feet and moved over to sit at the closest chair. "My grandmother…at Eichen House."

Just then, her mother had run into the room with Sydney following right behind her. After Lydia had fainted, she had run back to the classroom to tell Ms. Ramsey what had happened. Scott and Theo had gone to help Lydia while Sydney was sent to find Natalie.

She gasped as she saw her daughter. "Lydia? Oh my god, what happened? Are you alright?"

"Mom, I'm fine," she said, trying to settle her down. She knew her mother would still be a little frantic seeing as she had been in the hospital barely a week before. "It was nothing."

"Was it a blackout? Did you faint?"

Lydia blinked before she nodded. "Yeah…it was. I fainted, but I'm fine. I promise."

Scott shared an uncomfortable look with Theo as they knew that Lydia was far from fine.

* * *

After class, Kira was sitting off in one of the bookshelf aisles in the library as she stared at her copy of the book. She was trying to read the book again but the words were as blurred and ineligible as they were last night. She couldn't read a thing. Kira got frustrated and just shut her copy shut.

"Not into sci-fi?"

She looked up and saw Mason standing there, a calm smile on his face.

"Hey Mason," she said, brushing a stray hair from her face.

"That's the book, isn't it?" Liam had told him all about it. "I thought you guys were supposed to finish reading it last night."

"Yeah, I kind of haven't yet. I…I don't know what wrong with me. I mean, I can't-. I can barely read it."

He moved over to sit next to her. "Okay, this is gonna sound weird. But do you speak Japanese?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "No," she said. Just because she could swing a samurai sword didn't automatically mean she spoke the language. Though to be fair, she didn't know that she knew how to use a sword until over half a year ago. "I'm also half-Korean and I don't speak Korean. And I'm pushing a C average in English," she added.

"Okay, well I've been doing some reading on Kitsunes."

"How come?"

He let a breathless laugh loose. "Cause I've met one," he pointed out.

"Oh, right."

He continued on. "Do you know why people in Japan answer the phone 'Moshi Moshi'?"

Kira nodded. "Moshi means hello." Some of the only Japanese she actually did know.

"Yeah, but there's a reason why you have to say it twice on the phone. Because according to Japanese folklore, fox spirits have difficulty with language. And the way you prove you're not a fox when you answer the phone, say 'Moshi' twice. The important part is "Moshi Moshi" confuses Kitsunes because it's a language trick. So is the book. You know, it's just one long language trick."

"Whoa, really?"

The two of them turned around and spotted Stiles looking at them through the books through bookcase, behind them.

"Stiles?" Mason said backing away from the case to get a better look at him. "What's up?"

"Hey." He walked around and joined the two in their aisle. "I was just walking by when I heard you two talking as I was outside the library."

"You heard about Lydia?" Kira asked him.

"Yeah," he mumbled. "Is she okay?"

"Scott said that she told her mom she was going to go home and rest. She only has one class so-"

"Right," Stiles said, nodding. "I'll go check on her after my next class. I have a free period after that. He then looked over at Mason. "Mason, good research skills there. Over two weeks knowing this stuff and you found something that _I_ didn't even know about kitsunes. I'm impressed."

"Thanks," Mason said, smiling and feeling proud of himself.

Kira looked down at the book. "So, that's why I can't read the book? It's tricking me?" she mused.

"The fox part of you," Mason nodded. "Confusing it so you can't make sense of it."

Stiles couldn't help but remember the language tricks he suffered when the Nogitsune was trying to get control of his body. He should've remembered. "Kira?" Stiles asked suddenly.

He was looking over at the wall and they turned over to see that the light was flickering like before. But it stopped after a couple of seconds.

"I swear it wasn't me," she told them. Her eyes went over to Stiles. "Again."

Stiles blinked but shrugged it away. "Uh, Kira, why don't you go and talk to your dad? Or better yet, your mom. I mean, one of them gotta know how you could get around this whole language trick thing, right?"

Her eyes widened. "Yeah, yeah you're right." She then moved to get back to her feet. "Thanks Stiles, Mason." She then took off to go and find her father.

Mason then moved to get to his feet himself. "I better go. I'm supposed to meet Liam on the field."

"Hey Mason," Stiles said suddenly, making him stop before he could leave. "Thanks for helping Kira back there."

"It was no big deal," he tried to shrug off. "I just wanted to know more about you guys. I mean, werewolves, kitsunes, werecoyotes, banshees. I've been studying all kinds of lore, stories, superstitions and movies for days. It's all just…wow," he finished, breathlessly.

Stiles broke into a small smile. Mason's scent was full of excitement and energy. Not just now either. Every time he'd seen Mason since Liam told him, the guy was full of such intrepid curiosity and wonder about all things supernatural. He remembered that was the way he felt about all of this after that first full moon. He sighed a bit sadly as he missed feeling that way.

"You okay?" Mason asked in concern.

Stiles blinked and nodded. "Yeah, just thinking. Um, so you've been studying up on werewolves huh?"

"Yeah," Mason nodded eagerly. "I mean, when your best friend is one, it should go without saying that you learn as much as you can, right?"

Stiles just found something else he liked about Liam, his taste in friends. He could easily see why Liam was so scared of losing Mason, but he had no reason to be as scared as he was. Mason was loyal, understanding and brave. He was going the extra mile to learn what he could, not to try to hurt or take advantage of Liam, but to better understand his new world. And Mason had been willing to go against Berserkers when his friends and good people were in trouble, despite how scared and confused he had been at the time. You don't find a lot of people like that every day, even around Beacon Hills.

And his instincts were telling him that Mason was someone that could be trusted.

"Mason, hey, do you think you might be able to help me with something?"

"Me?" he asked, a little surprised. How could he help Stiles? From what Liam said, the guy was pretty smart and capable on his own. Why would he need _him_?

"Look, honestly, I would handle it myself but with over a handful of new chimeras coming, and the Dread Doctors not too far away," _'Not to mention keeping an eye on Theo,'_ he silently added. "I don't have much time to spare. So I was wondering if you wouldn't mind looking into some… _special_ lore for me."

"What?" asked Mason, a little eager. He really wanted to help.

And Stiles could feel that he genuinely did. He pushed Mason off into a corner and let his senses branch out to see that none of the others were around. Then he lowered his voice into a whisper. "Before I tell you, I need you to promise that you'll keep it a secret. You can't tell anyone. Not Scott. Not Malia. Lydia. Or even Liam. Can I trust you?"

Mason's face faltered a bit. "Wait, why can't I tell anyone?"

"Can I trust you or not Mason?" he said in a heated whisper.

He stared at Stiles for a few moments before he finally nodded his head.

* * *

Scott was heading over to Ms. Ramsey and he went and placed his Course Drop form in front of her. His teacher looked up at him and Scott sighed before he went to leave the room.

"You forgot to sign it," she said after him. He stopped and moved to head back over, pulling out a pen. "Are you going to tell me why you're dropping?"

"It's a schedule thing," he said simply.

Since the deadline was today, Scott had been resolved to try and stick out today's class to try and not force himself to drop it. Yet, when Lydia collapsed he had to leave and cut it short and when he came back, found that he was missing some of Ms. Ramsey's lecture for his notes and he could barely understand half of what he did have. Scott realized that he won't be able to take this class and pass, not with all this craziness going on. He wouldn't be able to devote enough time for it, and keep his grades up with his other classes when these supernatural issues kept popping up.

Ms. Ramsey could see the hesitation Scott had and knew he didn't want to give in that form. She knew of Scott's amazing potential, in more things than one, and didn't want to see him just let it go. "Why did you take this course to begin with?" she asked him as he was getting ready to sign. "Isn't it a prerequisite for the college you want?"

He shook his head. "It just doesn't matter. It's too much…time. Too much work."

"To become a veterinarian? Scott, I don't think you should drop."

Scott could see that Ms. Ramsey was trying to help but he didn't see any other way. He honestly wouldn't drop if he could. It is after all he had wanted. To be a veterinarian. He remembered when that girl Stephanie called him Dr. McCall. He had liked the sound of it. And he loved his work at the animal clinic. He loved the animals, working with them. Taking care of them. Ever since-

But his trail of thought went cold and he couldn't finish signing as he found his throat closing up. Breathing suddenly seemed hard for him to do. As he blinked rapidly, he found everything around him blurring. As he dropped the pen, he suddenly saw an image of a leash being dropped. He then saw and heard dogs barking and then saw flashes of them growling and barking at each other before they ran and attacked. Scott then started wheezing and his feet were starting to give out under him. This feeling he was experiencing. The pain in his chest, throat, and trouble breathing, he'd had it before but it'd been over a year and a half since he had.

"Scott? What wrong?" Ms. Ramsey asked, getting up.

"I…I think…I'm having an asthma attack,' he said in between wheezes.

Ms. Ramsey called out for someone to get a nurse as Scott fell to his knees, struggling to keep breathing.

* * *

A/N: I tried really hard to finish this one in time for the full moon. Some twists and new turns are already taking shape. More will come soon enough, I promise.


	17. Required Reading part 2

Chapter 16: Required Reading part 2

Virgil Edelman was cruising down a center street on his motorcycle, just losing himself to the wind and the sunshine. It was his day off and he was just taking this time to enjoy the benefits of having restored this beauty that he was riding on. He went and stopped at a red light and absentmindedly watched as some cars passed by on the intersection when a car went and came to a stop right next to him. He looked over and noticed that it was a Porsche.

"Oh great," he muttered under his breath, turning away from the sight of it.

It wasn't that Virgil didn't like Porsches. They were actually a thing of beauty if he was being honest with himself. It was just that, in his experience, it was usually douchebags that had them. One of them he knew back in San Diego, and another that he encountered when he first came to Beacon Hills over two years ago. Now that he thought of it, it looked a lot like that one. He didn't think much of it as the light then changed and he zoomed right on out of there, letting himself get lost in the speed and open road.

Yet, the Porsche lingered for a bit.

"Over a year and things don't seemed to have changed much in this town. So, which way is it?" the driver asked. But the guy in the passenger seat didn't answer. He was just staring off after the bike. "What's wrong?"

"That bike…" he muttered off.

"Nice…what about it?" the driver asked as he watched it go off as soon as the light turned green.

"It's just…never mind. Forget it."

"No, what is it Ethan?"

"Well, for a moment, I swore it was my brother's."

"Aiden's? But, you said you trashed it before you left last year."

"Yeah, I did a pretty big number on it all right," he mumbled. The grief was evident in his voice. "But I could swear that was it. A little different but I could feel it was the same one."

A car behind them honked which broke them out of it.

"Damn, so, which way?"

"Right, go left. I think her house is that way," he said, pointing the way.

As the Porsche moved to make the turn, Ethan let his eyes linger out in the direction that the bike had gone off in. But he shook his head. Maybe he was just seeing things. Being back here was harder than he thought it would be. He just hoped that this visit was worth it.

* * *

The field was full of people from the school's different sports teams, all doing practice drills. Members of the girls soccer team were practicing field kicks while some guys from the lacrosse team were working on their shots. One guy made his shot and then moved down the line to let Liam have his turn. He scooped up a ball with his lacrosse stick as he moved to get ready to practice his shot.

His eyes went up to the stands where he spotted Mason sitting there with both Brett and Lori. When they learned that there might be some new chimeras out there, he and Stiles had called them and asked to keep a lookout at their school for anyone that might have been turned. They had come over to tell them what they had found.

Lori sent a wave his way when she caught him looking up at them. He hadn't seen Lori since that kiss they had at her front door. He found himself smiling lightly.

"Earth to Dunbar!" one of his teammates shouted at him.

"Sorry," he said, blinking his eyes rapidly.

"What's up Liam? You got a girl up in the stands or something?" asked one of the other guys next to him.

"Uh, yeah, maybe," he said lightly, dropping his gaze to try to keep himself from blushing.

The first guy looked up at the stands and spotted the three. "You mean that blonde sitting up there? Wow…she's cute," he mused.

"Yeah," Liam coughed up.

"Well, if you don't go and grab her Dunbar, I will," he smirked.

That made a small grumbling growl erupt from under Liam's throat as he lifted his head to give the guy a glare. He quickly held his hands up and quickly assure him that he was just joking. He looked back over to see that Lori looked like she was trying to stifle a laugh, making it clear that she heard them. Now Liam was feeling embarrassed but tried to smile it away on her.

Off to the side, Hayden was practicing her goal shots with some of the other girls and she looked over to where Liam was with some other guys, looking out into the stands. She then noticed he was looking over at stands and spotted the girl she had seen him with at Sinema. She took a moment to wonder who she was as she didn't remember seeing her around school before. Hayden found herself narrowing her eyes a bit as she saw her smiling down at Liam. And it looked like he was staring right back at her in kind of a daze.

Liam felt a twitch all of a sudden and he found himself turning to look over in Hayden's direction and she went and sent him a bit of a cold glare. His smile faltered a bit, along with his mood. He wondered why she was so upset and annoyed with him about now.

' _What's her problem?_ ' Lori thought, noticing the look Hayden seemed to be sending Liam out of nowhere.

Meanwhile, her brother and Mason were going over everything else going on. Brett was telling him of what their progress, all while having his eyes look out at all the girls and guys sweating and working out on the field. Mason was eager for more news about these 'chimeras' that were running around though his eyes were wandering too at some of the guys out there as they talked.

"Nothing?" said Mason. "None of them seemed strange or felt abnormal to you guys?"

Brett shrugged. "I don't know man. Everyone at Devenford pretty abnormal to me."

The born werewolf always felt that fellow werewolves and other shapeshifters were his normal, seeing as how he and his sister were raised and surrounded by other werewolves his whole life. Normal people were the ones that he always felt were strange.

"All right," Mason sighed. "Uh, what else is there to look for?" He thought about what he knew about his best friend and the others in his pack, as well as the chimeras they've come across so far. "There's, heightened strength, smell, hearing, speed-"

"Uh, able to see in the dark," Brett supplied.

"Glowing eyes."

"Eyes that reflect the light."

"Visible scorpion stingers protruding out of limbs," Mason said, fighting the urge to shiver at the memory of Lucas.

"Yeah, or three foot lizard tails."

"I think we get the point," Lori slurred out, staring at Liam moving to get ready to take a shot.

Mason let out a small chuckle before his face fell a bit. "Uh, has there any more news on Wilson yet?"

Lori dropped her gaze a bit as she thought about her pack's lost Second. Brett's face hardened a bit as he took a gaze at his crestfallen sister.

"Sorry," Mason quickly apologized. "I shouldn't have said-"

"No," Brett cut in. "It's…we get it.. Uh, Satomi was able to find out that Wilson had guard duty at the school that night but, he never clocked out."

Mason's eyes narrowed, in thought. "Then, that means that whatever happened to him, happened at the school."

"That's what Satomi thinks. But we searched Devenford top to bottom and we didn't find anything."

"Yeah," Lori mumbled. "The school is cleaned weekly and it was the day after he…, well, whatever happened, there would be no trace of it."

Mason wondered if that little piece of information was a coincidence, or not.

Back on the field, Liam moved to make his shot and the ball completely overshot the goal. The goalie turned his head to watch the ball fly past overhead. Liam let out a frustrated sigh as he looked embarrassingly up at Lori who just smiled reassuringly back at him. He let his head fall down a bit and then turned to look over at Hayden, who he could hear snickering at him. He watched her move into position and then made her own shot and it landed smack in the middle of the soccer net. After she did, she paced over at Liam's direction and sent a smug sneer his way, which he answered with a hard glare.

The Talbots widened their eyes at that exchange, while Mason shook his head.

"Oh man," he mumbled to himself. He knew what was coming.

A gauntlet had been thrown.

With his eyes full of ruthless determination, Liam took another ball and moved to charge towards the goal and take another shot. This time it ended up landing right in the net, dead center, just like Hayden's goal shot. Lori let out a small whoop and started to clap for him and he sent her an appreciative glance before moving to head back to position. As he did, he looked over at Hayden with a smug and self-pleasing smile, and she answered with a hard glare. Hayden then let her eyes look over at Lori's direction and they seemed to share a small narrowed look before the human girl grabbed the next ball, set it down and quickly moved to make her next goal shot, and landed it, hard. She turned to look at Liam and sent him a smug look which Liam glared back at before scooping up another ball. He moved and put some of his werewolf strength into his shot without meaning to and caused the goalie to fall back in fear to avoid getting gored by the ball as it hit the net behind him.

"Sorry!" Liam winced.

"Okay, what just happened down there?" asked Lori.

"Yeah," Brett breathed out. He had seen them bicker with each other back at Sinema before but Liam had told him that it was nothing. What he just saw was clearly something. "It's like every time I see those two in the same place, they want to tear each other's faces off."

"Not really, well, I don't think they would ever go _that_ far. I hope."

They then looked over at Mason, who had a knowing smile on his face.

"Spill," Lori told him.

"It kind of all started back in sixth grade. That wasn't the best year for Liam's anger management issues," Mason said with a bit of a laugh in his tone.

Brett snorted. "What was a good year?" he sarcastically put out there.

"Brett," Lori chastised.

"What? It's a fair question," he defended.

She rolled her eyes. "Go on," she said to Mason.

"Well, one day, there was a fight, in the hallways." Mason pulled out his phone and started scrolling. "Liam and this other guy. Hayden, sort of, accidentally, walked into it. And this is her yearbook photo."

He then hit the right file and it brought out a photo of a younger Hayden with black eyes and a slightly swollen nose. That made the Talbots suck in some breath at the sight of it.

"Ah damn," Brett whistled.

"Okay," Lori nodded. "I think I can start to understand the hostility." She looked over at Hayden and saw she was still glaring a bit Liam's way. Though, now that she looked deeper into it, it seemed more indignant than hateful.

Mason scoffed. "That's only half of it."

A smile creeped up on Brett. "Why? What did she do to him?"

He then moved to go to a new file. "This is _his_ sixth grade photo."

A new photo came up of a younger Liam, with his own black eyes and swollen nose.

"Whoa," Brett breathed, amused and a little impressed.

Lori shook her head, not sure whether to laugh or cringe. "Ouch," she hissed.

"Does anyone have asthma?!" Someone started shouting out. "Anyone got an inhaler?!"

That made a good many people look at the guy who was running down the field in a panic. Including Liam. His senses seem to fire up and his face fell when his instincts seemed to scream one thing to him.

"Scott," he mumbled in realization.

* * *

Scott was taking big heaving breaths as his lungs seemed to twist in his chest and his throat felt like it was closing up on him. This painful sensation, he had long forgotten it. He used to get these asthma attacks sometimes when he was younger, all before he had gotten bitten and turned into a werewolf. His feet gave out from under him and he fell to the floor. Ms. Ramsey was moving to try and help him sit up against his desk but Scott wasn't registering her presence at all.

His mind was in one of the halls of the hospital that he knew so well. He quickly saw his mother following a gurney with a boy on it, and she looked frantic. That was because the boy on the gurney was him. Him back when he was 12 years old.

"Mom," his young self said, pained and scared.

"You're okay sweetheart," his mom said, reassuring but scared herself. "You just need to breathe, okay?"

"Where's Roxy?" young him asked. His mom then reached for his hand, where there was a blood covered leash caught in a tight grip. She didn't answer him.

"It's okay sweetheart," she said, instead.

The gurney then went passed him and Scott looked down at the eyes of his younger self. The boy seemed to look right back at him as he went and asked their mom again, "Where's Roxy?"

"Try not to talk," she told him.

As the gurney passed, Scott felt a pain in his chest and he backed away into the wall and started to slide down to the floor. Images of dogs fighting and biting each other came back to him. Scott's breathing got heavier and he found his mind going back and forth from his memory to the classroom where Ms. Ramsey was trying to help him.

"Scott, you need to breathe," he was barely able to make out from her.

However, Scott soon became irresponsive and just kept staring out into space but his breathing was still deep yet losing strength.

"Scott, tell me, where is your inhaler?" Ms. Ramsey said, trying to shake him out of it. But he just kept staring out like a statue. She then looked over to the students that were watching this, freaked out and scared. "Someone's got to have an inhaler. One of you, find someone!"

At that, a few of them then ran off in different directions. Ms. Ramsey stayed with Scott, trying to get him through to him and help him keep breathing.

When Liam ran off into the school, he was being followed by Mason, Brett and Lori.

"How do you know it's Scott?" Mason called out after him.

"I just know," he said back, not faltering in his pace.

Mason looked over at Brett who was almost in step with him.

"It's his alpha. He must feel it on instinct." He then looked back over at Liam's back. "But, how could Scott be having an asthma attack?"

Both Lori and Mason were wondering the same thing. Werewolves don't get asthma attacks. Let alone alphas.

"I don't know, and I don't care. I have to help him."

Liam finally stopped in front of a locker and started to put in the combination.

"That's not your locker Liam," said Mason, confused about why he had come here.

"No," he said, shaking his head. "It's Stiles." He then got the lock to open and he opened the door and started to look around. He pulled out a small baggie with an inhaler. "Yes," he panted before he closed the locker and took off running again.

He ran off for the Biology room where there were a small group of kids crowding outside the door.

"Clear the way," he told them. They quickly parted and Liam ran inside and found Scott on the floor with Ms. Ramsey next to him. "I got the inhaler."

He then threw himself down and knelt over next to Scott. Liam took a moment to look at him. Scott didn't look so good. His breathing sounded weak and his eyes looked a bit glazed over. He'd never seen him like this before. Liam took the inhaler and moved to place it in his mouth and pumped it. Scott took a deep breath and started to cough and wheeze a bit. He looked over at Liam whose eyes let out their beta gold glow as he tried to silently will his Alpha to be okay again. Scott felt his chest get lighter and his breathing started to deepen and get stronger.

Ms. Ramsey let herself feel some relief as she looked out towards the students watching from the doorway. Among them, she noticed Brett and Lori Talbot looking on. The two of them had looks of concern as they looked on. Brett moved his gaze up at Ms. Ramsey and he gave a subtle curt nod her way as they caught each other's eyes.

Next to the three of them was Hayden and her gaze softened as she watched Liam helping out Scott. She suddenly felt some of the resentment and anger she felt at him slip away and a small smile made its way to her. Hayden then moved to leave but the only one that reacted to her doing so was Lori, who let her face drop a bit as she noticed the smile on her.

* * *

Stiles was in his jeep, heading off to meet with Lydia when his phone started ringing. He looked over to see that it was Mason. He went and turned on the speaker.

"Hey Mason, what's up?"

" _Scott just had an asthma attack_ ," he answered in a panicked voice.

Stiles quickly moved to pull the jeep over. "Is he okay?!" he panicked.

" _Yeah, he's fine_ ," Mason answered quickly. " _Liam managed to get an inhaler to him. He's okay._ "

Stiles let himself breathe out a sigh of relief. "Thank god."

" _Yeah, I remember you saying that you were going to head off to see Lydia after so you wouldn't have heard about what happened and thought you should know_."

"Thanks, I appreciate that Mason." Btu there was then a beep from his phone. "Uh, I got another call. I'll talk to you later." He then cancelled the call and accepted the new one. "Hello?"

" _Stiles, it's Satomi. I found him_."

His eyes opened up. "You did? That's great. How can I reach him?"

" _Just come over. He's waiting for you in my house_."

His face fell a bit. "Wait, he's here? In Beacon Hills?"

" _Yes. But apparently he's only here for today. If you want to talk to him, this is only chance_."

Stiles bared his teeth. He wanted to check up on Lydia, but he couldn't pass this opportunity up.

* * *

Things at the station were relatively calm, which gave Jordan some time to let his mind think about the things that were going around in town. Most recently, the half a dozen holes that were found at the school. According to Lydia, that had to mean there were more Chimeras out there like Tracy. There was a sudden buzzing and he looked over to see that it was coming from his phone, that he had set on the table. It looked like Stiles was calling him. He went to pick up the phone.

"Stiles, what's up?"

Noah was pacing before the wall of pictures that were tacked on his wall. His eyes went to linger on the one of Donovan. "What are you waiting for?" he mumbled to himself.

He knew that Donovan wasn't the patient and idle type. The kid was impulsive, emotional, and had a clear grudge against him. If he had become a chimera and now had super strength, claws and fangs, then he would be out there, using them. On him. Donovan had been very clear about what he would do to him, if he was given the chance. So, if he was really out there, as a Chimera, what was he waiting for? Unless he couldn't, because he was really dead like Stiles and Malia seemed to think so. Because he was a 'failure' like Tracy and Lucas had been and was already killed by the Dread Doctors.

"Sheriff?"

Noah turned around and saw Jordan at the door. "Yeah, Parrish, come on in. What's up?" he asked as his deputy walked in and closed the door after him.

"Stiles, he just called me."

His face fell. "Did something happen to him?"

"He's fine," Jordan quickly said. "Yeah, he just wanted to tell me some news about Lydia. Apparently, she fainted today."

"Is she alright?"

"She's okay. She's resting at home and thought I should know."

Noah understood. "You want to check up on her."

Jordan nodded. "If that's alright."

"Well, things seem pretty quiet right now. I think I can spare one of my best deputies for an hour or two." That made Jordan crack a small smile. "Uh, did my son say how this happened? Was it a banshee thing?"

"Well, he thinks it has something to do with that Dread Doctors book."

"I thought they all tried to read it last night together and nothing happened."

"Something's happening now. Lydia had told everyone that she had seen a memory of her grandmother. Looks like the book worked, but is just working slowly."

"And not gently from the sounds of it," he muttered. Noah then looked over at his desk where there was a copy of the Dread Doctors book lying there.

Jordan noticed it too. "You have a copy?"

"Yeah, Stiles had come to see me early this morning and left it here."

"You know…if this book does really work to bring out repressed and lost memories, then, maybe I should try reading it."

"What? Why?"

"Well, maybe it might help me finally get some answers. About what I am."

But Noah shook his head and held his hand out to him. "No, you shouldn't go anywhere near this book."

"But Sheriff, what if everything I've been looking for is in my memories. This book could be my best chance to-"

"Parrish, no," Noah cut him off. "This book is too dangerous. It made Lydia collapse, and drove Malia to run out into a road and nearly get hit by a car. Who knows what else it might do? To my son, or the others."

"I can handle it," Jordan insisted. "You got to trust me on this."

"This isn't about trust Parrish. This is about your safety. I'll pull rank and order you to steer clear and not so much as touch this book if I have to. Now, promise me you won't try using the book."

Parrish gave the book a small look before he deflated and let out a deep breath. He nodded. "I promise."

"Okay. Now go. I'm sure Lydia could use some company right now."

Noah watched with a solemn look as Parrish left his office. He couldn't help but be more and more worried about that young man every passing day. Parrish was starting to get desperate for answers. Noah couldn't help but be scared that eventually Parrish would end up doing something reckless.

* * *

Theo was in the school's weight room, working out while letting his mind focus on everything that was happening so far. Scott, Stiles, Lydia, Malia and Kira all had read the book. Malia had already been feeling the effects but now Lydia and Scott have started to fall under its thrall. It would only be a matter of time before Stiles and Kira started feeling them too. This would only provide him more openings to exploit and give him room to squeeze his way into their confidences. Then there was Satomi's pack. Before, he was worried that they would ruin his plans but they were now no longer a concern. The Alpha and her betas were now grieving and preoccupied trying to find a trail leading them to the death of their Second. A trail that would soon be fully wiped clean with nothing left to tie back to him. They would be chasing their own tails and wouldn't have time to be a threat now. Everything was more or less going right.

As he was doing some chin ups, he suddenly stopped when he picked up someone heading his way. He picked up the scent and he let a smile come over him when he realized who it was. A perfect opportunity. He let himself drop before he started to take off his shirt. As he pulled it completely off, he turned over just in time to see Malia walk into the room and spot him.

Malia froze as she came upon the sight of Theo, shirtless, and in the middle of a workout. As she looked at his bare upper body, she couldn't help but remember the dream she had the other night. As he threw his shirt off to the side, she couldn't help but think her dream was lacking in some parts. Theo moved to a weight bar and started to do some sets as he stared at the mirror on the wall.

"Why haven't you said anything?" she asked when she was able to final find her voice.

"About what?" he asked back before he started lifting the bar though kept his gaze on her reflection.

"The rest of my memory," she said coming closer as he kept lifting. "The Desert Wolf. Why didn't you tell Scott?" It was why she came to look for him. Theo hadn't said a word about what she had seen.

Theo caught her eye through the mirror while she stared at him. At his arms and his back. She was obviously trying not to focus on how his muscles flexed as he worked out. He deepened his breathing and made sure to exert himself a little harder with each raise of the weight bar to better show off the muscles at his chest and torso for her to watch from the mirror at the same time as ones on his back. He had a feeling that she didn't get to see much from Stiles and the lupine part felt a competitive need to show her that he was a better mate choice than the wolf she was with now.

"Why haven't you told Stiles?" he said back nonchalantly.

"What makes you think I haven't?" she muttered softly, trying not to let her eyes linger on Theo's sweaty back, or his front,

"I kind of heard you two talking last night. He asked if you had seen anything else but you didn't tell him about seeing The Desert Wolf. You don't anyone to know, don't you?"

Her face softened a bit. "No…." She hadn't told Stiles, and she still wasn't sure why. If she asked, she was sure that Stiles wouldn't say anything. Maybe. "Are you gonna want to know why?"

Theo then stopped and slowly set the weights to the floor. Even with his back to her, he could feel her gaze on him intensifying and the heat coming from her growing. It started to make his own heart pump even faster than his workout had. He then turned and took a moment to admire her curves as he approached her until he just stopped about two feet from her.

"Not really," he shrugged off before he headed off to the side.

Malia's face fell slightly at that while he went to the butterfly press and sat down on the seat. As Theo started to pull on the armrests, he took a moment to look over at Malia's exposed tanned legs. They were flawless and strong. As he pushed and pulled on the press, he let himself wonder how they would feel against his palms.

Malia just watched him but it wasn't with lust like before. It was with fury, and suspicion. Stiles had told her that he didn't trust the guy and she shouldn't either. As Theo kept working out, nonchalantly, she felt herself getting anxious, and a bit suspicious. After watching for a few more moments, she finally leapt forward and grabbed at the bars, halting him.

"You think you're doing me a favor?" she silently raged on him with a bit of a growl in her tone. "Like I'm going to owe you now?" Was that why he was doing this? To try and hold something over on her?

"I don't need any favors," he muttered, struggling from the building strain that was being placed on his arms.

"Then what do you want?" she asked him, pushing on the bars a bit more.

Theo ignored the growing discomfort and kept his gaze locked on her. "I want in the pack," he breathed.

That's what he wanted? How would keeping her secret help him with that? "That's not up to me," she said leaning closer and narrowing her eyes harder at him.

Theo didn't lose his composure. "If you want to tell Scott what you saw then tell him. If you've got something else in mind…I'm okay with that too," he said with a hint of a smile. That made her pull back a bit and he could start to feel a hint of animal lust returning slightly as she stared back at him. It made a certain part of him begin to heat up and rise a bit under his sweats.

Malia couldn't help but have a mental flash of her intense dream the other night as Theo stared at her. The look he had was exactly the same one that he had as he was hovering over her. Hungry and full of lust...for her. And her heart began to pound harder as she stared back. A…craving began to build in the pit of her stomach and she quickly let go of the bars. She then turned and moved to just leave the room. She tried to shake off the sudden heat and anxiousness she felt by letting her mind focus on a memory of Stiles' gentle face and his touch. But, Theo's face was trying to push its way through.

Theo cringed a bit as he felt some muscle pain hit him as the door slammed shut behind Malia. Despite that, he let himself smile and feel some predatorial satisfaction. As much as he could feel that Malia was trying to hide or deny it, she was feeling drawn to him. Soon, he would get her to trust him, and…want him.

* * *

Liam and Mason were walking off with the Talbots, seeing them off as they were heading out.

"Scott's really okay?" asked Brett.

Mason nodded. "Looks like it. I gave Stiles a call and told him what happened. How did this happen anyway?"

Liam narrowed his eyes. "It's a safe bet it was that book on the Dread Doctors."

"Must be one hell of a book," Brett slurred out. "Emphasis on hell."

Liam couldn't help but agree. First Malia had run into traffic, then Lydia fainted, and now Scott had an asthma attack. "I'm starting to feel grateful that I didn't try reading it."

"Still, you should be careful, even if you didn't read it," Lori said to them.

"Yeah, you too," Liam said gently to her. "Both of you," he quickly said, giving Brett a quick look.

Brett let a smirk loose. "Aww, didn't know you cared so much about me Liam," he teased. That made him give him a somewhat scathing look but Brett just kept smiling at him. He then turned to his sister. "We better go," he told her.

"Yeah," she nodded. "Don't be afraid to call if anything happens."

"Or for any other reason, she's probably hoping," Brett threw in, making Lori slap at his shoulder.

Hayden had been watching them from around the corner. She was starting to wonder who those two were and why she was seeing them hanging around Liam and Mason lately. It seemed that they all were friends but she'd never seen Liam really hang out with anyone other than Mason before. A small twist in her stomach formed from watching Liam get a hug and peck on the cheek from that pretty girl before she left with the other guy, who ducked to avoid a slap on the head as he threw her a teasing face. Hayden looked over and saw that Liam was ducking his head a bit as Mason smiled at him. She sighed before she moved to go to her locker and placed a textbook in there and took out a notebook before she moved to head out. But, as she walked, she heard a familiar voice calling out her name.

' _Please, no_ ,' she thought as she kept walking.

But she soon felt a hand tap her shoulder and saw her sister come right up to her, dressed in her deputy uniform. "Hey there."

"Come on, you were supposed to go wait in the parking lot."

"And you're supposed to be embarrassed by your parents, not your sister," she countered. She then pulled out a small prescription container. "By the way, guess where I found this. In your jeans about to go into the laundry. Do I have to remind you that one bottle costs $200?"

As Hayden took the bottle from her, Liam was passing by. He couldn't help but overhear the two of them. His ears perked up when he heard about the money and his eyebrows rose a bit as he eyed the bottle that Hayden was hastily trying to hide away. He guessed that this was the reason that Hayden needed the money. For her prescription.

"Sorry," she said before she turned and noticed Liam looking. "What?" she snapped at him.

He shook his head. "Nothing," he said, walking off, away from them.

As he got away, his lycan ears kept listening in on them.

" _Was that Liam Dunbar?_ " her sister asked. " _He got cute_."

Hayden rolled her eyes, but her face cracked a bit as she couldn't help but agree, begrudgingly.

Liam found a smile creep his way onto him as he kept walking off.

* * *

Stiles may have heard that he had come back to town but he was still shocked when he walked into Satomi's home and found Ethan Steiner standing off in the Alpha's study.

"Ethan…what are you doing here?"

He rose his eyebrows at that one. "What am I doing here? Weren't you the one looking for me? You went to Satomi and asked for her to send feelers out to try and find me."

Stiles rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, I didn't know where you were after…" A small bit of discomfort, and guilt started to build at the sight of him.

"Aiden," Ethan muttered, feeling a fresh wave of grief as he thought of his twin brother.

Stiles' jaw tightened a bit. "You just left without a word to anybody."

"Yeah, there wasn't a reason to stay anymore," he said gruffly.

"Right…but I thought you would, I don't know, give me a call or send me an e-mail or something. Not come all the way back to town."

"Believe me, we didn't want to come back here."

"I didn't ask you t-" Stiles stopped and then narrowed his eyes. "Wait, did you say we?"

"What?"

"We. You said, 'we didn't want to come back here'. Are you here with somebody?"

"What did you need to find me for Stiles?" Ethan said, impatiently. He had forgotten how annoying this guy could get.

Stiles let his face grow serious. "I wanted to ask for your help."

"Do you? You know, I've been hearing some crazy stories and rumors about what's been happening after I left. If you were trying to ask if I could help you fight against these mix and match freaks showing up-"

Stiles cut him off. "That's not it. I needed to ask you some stuff."

"About what?"

"About your pack. Your old one, before you and your brother joined up with Deucalion. And the alpha you two killed to get your power."

Ethan rose his eyebrows up. That was honestly the last thing he expected. "Why?"

Stiles' face hardened. "Because, there is a werewolf here who claims to have been turned by him. And you're the only one who could prove for me once and for all that he's lying."

* * *

Lydia was sitting in her room, staring at her reflection in her vanity mirror, which was decorated with different photos of all her friends, when she saw Jordan slowly stepping inside holding two mugs of coffee. He moved over and held one out for her.

"Thanks," she said, accepting it. "I'm glad you decided to come over."

"I'm glad I did too." Jordan moved to sit in the chair beside as he set his coffee down and gently look at her. "So, you saw a repressed memory?"

"It was my grandmother. At Eichen House. She was…lying in a tub, with a hole in her head. It looked like, a drill had done it."

"Trepanation," Jordan muttered lightly.

She nodded. "And my mother was there. When she noticed me, she started yelling and moved to take me away. I guess…seeing my grandmother like that. With that dazed look on her face, I must've tried very hard to forget it. And I did."

"Until the book brought it back," he finished.

"Yeah…not exactly what I was hoping to remember though."

"I know. You wanted to find out what the Dread Doctors did to you during your surgery."

Lydia took a look over at her mirror and her eyes flew to a picture of Stiles. The image was of him smiling and waving at the camera, but she then blinked and the image changed to have him covered in blood. Lydia's widened her eyes before she blinked again, and the photo went back to normal.

"Unless that wasn't a memory," she said.

"What wasn't?" Jordan asked her.

"The surgery. What if that wasn't a memory I was seeing, but a vision."

"You mean, a banshee's vision?"

"Yeah. A vision of someone else's memory."

He nodded. "A chimera…one that might be about to die."

She nodded back.

At that moment, out on the streets in front of the house, sat Jackson in his Porsche. He was watching the house and happened to be listening in. A mixture of sadness and happiness was displayed on his face. Sadness that he never talked or was there for Lydia. Appreciated her for the smart and caring person she really was, underneath the ditzy, ice queen facade she used to play up. Though the two of them hadn't been together for a while, he still cared about her. And a part of him will always love her. But, he understood that he didn't deserve her. That's why he was also a little happy. Because it sounded like she now had someone that talked to her like the smart person she really was and treated her well. Lydia deserved to have someone good in her life and he accepted that it was never going to be him. He then started the Porsche up and drove off. It was time to pick Ethan up and leave.

* * *

Scott was sitting in the locker room, staring at the inhaler in his hands. He had an asthma attack. A real asthma attack. He hadn't had one for almost two years now. It was one thing that he actually didn't miss since he had turned into a werewolf. Scott had long stopped carrying one around. He never thought he would ever have to use one again. And there was only one thing he could think of to explain how it could've happened.

There was some movement at the corner of his eye and he saw that it was just Theo, with an uneasy sort of look on his face. After his little encounter with Malia he had come to shower and change and was happy that Scott was there, alone, and from the looks of things, depressed. No doubt from the asthma attack he heard he suffered no doubt due to the effects of the book. Perfect opening.

"You gonna be okay?" he asked in concern as he stopped a few paces from him.

"Yeah," Scott muttered. "I just think it was the memory hitting me. Psychosomatic thing."

Theo went into his locker to get some of his stuff. "You sure you're alright?"

He nodded quickly. "Yeah, I'm okay. It's over now. Probably just freak thing."

"Well, just know that if you need to talk or, anything-"

Theo let his eyes emit their golden glow and Scott found himself staring at them, letting himself become calm. The glow then dimmed but Theo kept his gaze locked on Scott who started to nod.

"Yeah, thanks Theo," Scott said roughly before he cleared his throat. "Did you want to talk about something?"

Theo shook his head. "No, it can wait."

"No, no, it's okay," Scott insisted. He needed something to distract him right now. "What's up?"

Theo moved to pull out his phone. "Uh, last night, you guys all fell asleep. And I went upstairs to check on Kira. She was sleeping, but-"

"You heard her speaking Japanese," Scott finished.

A few times, when Kira stayed over with him and they would sleep together, Scott would awaken and hear Kira mumbling in her sleep. Mumbling in Japanese. Not only that, Kira also had spoken Japanese at Sinema when she tried to attack Lucas.

"I didn't just hear it. I recorded it."

He then played the file of her speaking. She was repeating the same phrase over and over.

Scott nodded. "That's what she said at the club."

"I found a website that could translate it. It means, roughly: I am the messenger of Death." That made Scott gasp and look away. "Does it get worse?"

"Uh, yeah. She's got this aura around her. It's hard to explain, but, it's supposed to be part of her. But now it looks different. It looks like its taking control of her. I don't know…something's happening. And to be honest…"

"What?" Theo pressed.

"I don't know if I can trust her anymore," he sighed out.

Scott couldn't help but feel that it was easier to talk to Theo about this than it had been with Stiles. Stiles had gotten angry with him when he tried talking with him about what was going on with Kira. And he still didn't understand why. The reaction from Theo however, it was worry. Theo was as worried as he was about Kira.

His thoughts were interrupted when the lights began flickering. Just like it had been before in the hallway. But, Kira wasn't around this time. Suddenly, Scott began to hear a distant sound. It sounded like electrical buzzing and water dripping.

"I hear it too," Theo told him.

"It's coming from the basement."

They moved to run off to the basement and came upon some wires and fuses shredded and shorting out. Sparks were being shot out and the places were the wiring was cut and torn out.

"This definitely isn't Kira," he said over the sounds of electricity shorting out.

"It's a Chimera," Theo gasped.

Scott knew that the others would still be around so he went to go and find them yet the only person he and Theo found was Malia.

"Where's Kira?" he asked her when they found her.

"She's with her dad," she told him.

"And Stiles?" Theo asked.

"He went to the hospital to meet with Lydia," she said, not looking at him. She still was feeling a bit awkward and uneasy from their little meeting earlier.

"What are they doing there?"

"Lydia went there to try and figure out what happened during her surgery. Stiles said that he just got there but it looks like the hospital is having power problems. He's looking into it."

At that, Scott and Theo shared a look before they started to pick up the pace in leaving the school. Malia was taken a little aback but moved to follow after them.

* * *

At the hospital roof, by the generator, a teen named Josh Diaz was ripping through the wires. With his teeth. Razor sharp teeth that he was using to chew through them, sucking up and feeding on the electricity. Sparks flew out from the generator and the lights on the roof flickered furiously.

* * *

Lydia opened the door to the operating room where she had been taken to during her surgery with an uneasy look on her face. The room was empty and quiet, not to mention dark. There was barely any light so she moved to turn on the lights, but nothing happened when she flipped the switch. She toggled it a bit before she realized that the power in the room must be out.

"Great," she sighed. It looked like she would have to do this in the dark, as if her nerves weren't heightened enough.

She eyed the operating table and swallowed before she started to approach it, slowly. The heart monitor nearby was on and it seemed to be letting out steady beeps, even though there was no one there. Lydia moved closer to it, until her face was practically in front of it. Her ears began to hear something that sounded like…whispering. It seemed to sound out in sync with the beeps. Lydia let her ear press flat against the screen, trying to hear and make sense of what it was she was hearing.

It was a boy's voice. It sounded distant but she then heard some deep breathing from behind her. Lydia turned over and saw the Dread Doctors over the operating table, where there was a teenager strapped to it. Josh Diaz. He was staring at the tongs the Surgeon held in his hand.

"Please, don't hurt me," Josh pleaded.

The Surgeon didn't heed it and moved to place it at Josh's side where he began to peel his skin back, revealing a faint blue, reptilian looking skin underneath.

"Your condition worsens," he said, as he and the Geneticist and Pathologist bared down on him.

Lydia stared at the scene, too horrified to move.

* * *

Liam had gone off to Sinema to try and give some more money to Hayden but she was trying her hardest to try and shake him off. He was more determined than ever, after overhearing hers and her sister's conversation back at school.

"Just take it, it's $25," he said, holding it up to her.

She let out a frustrated breath at him. "Liam, please stop."

Hayden then moved to try and get back to trying to help get the club ready but Liam kept shadowing after her.

"I promised that I would pay you back."

"It doesn't matter now." She then cast a look over at her boss who was in the middle of interviewing a guy that wanted to be a new stripper for the club. "Phil takes half of it anyway."

She headed out for the back but Liam followed after her.

"Look, I know it's for your medication. So please, just take the money."

She stopped and looked back at him. "No. It wasn't your fault."

Her tone was not hostile, but gentle and Liam felt guilty at the sound of it.

"I punched you in the face," he argued.

Hayden let out a small laugh. "I meant the shots."

He blinked. "Oh."

Hayden couldn't help but think that he really did look cute, being all flustered and awkward like that. And she started to understand what that blonde girl must've been feeling before she hugged and kissed him. "It's for mycophenolate. It's for a kidney transplant I had a few years ago. I work here so my sister doesn't have to pay for all of it. Now, could you just forget about it?"

Liam froze. He had no idea about any of that. "Does Phil really take half?" he asked as she moved to get back to work.

She scoffed. "And never stops bragging about it. Just listen to him," she said, pointing her chin at him as he was still talking to the new stripper.

Liam let himself hear what Phil was talking about and he heard that he was indeed bragging. Bragging about how his employees wouldn't say anything about him stiffing them because they were all too young to be selling alcohol. But then Liam realized that Hayden was a teenager. Making her a potential candidate for one of the Dread Doctors' chimeras.

"Hey, can I ask you to do something for me?"

"What?" she asked.

"Close your eyes."

"Are you kidding?" she snorted.

"Please," he said gently to her.

"No," she told him.

"Just for two seconds. I swear, I'm not gonna do anything."

"Why?"

"All you have to do is close your eyes for three seconds."

"You said two."

He rolled his eyes. "Okay, well, three. Three at most."

"This is stupid," she said to him, but closed her eyes regardless.

Liam moved to grab one of the glow sticks from her tray. "Just one second," he said, as he turned it on. He just hoped that he was just being paranoid. He held the stick up to her face. "Okay, open them," he told her.

Hayden then opened her eyes, and Liam saw that there was a faint reflective glow to them. His face fell as he stared at them.

Hayden was a chimera.

* * *

Making his way to the hospital, Stiles quickly went to find Scott's mom.

"You're looking for Lydia?" she asked as they walked down a corridor together.

"Yeah," he sighed out heavily. "She left me a message. Said she was heading here. Something about it not being a repressed memory she had seen during her surgery. I came to see if I could help."

Melissa tilted her head a bit. "Hey Stiles, are you okay?" The kid seemed a bit lackluster to how he usually was.

"What? Yeah, yeah, I'm just a little tired. It's been a long day." He felt a little wiped after his meeting with Ethan. A lot had been said and heard during their talk, and his mind was still half dwelling on it all.

"Maybe you should go home and get some sleep," she lightly suggested to him.

"I will, yeah, _after_ I'm done helping Lydia here."

"Well, I did see her about a half hour ago. She was looking for the room where she was taken for her surgery." The lights above them started to flicker furiously and some of them went out. Some of the nearby nurses looked nervous. "Don't worry, we'll still have auxiliary power."

Stiles sighed as he rested his hands on his hips. "Did Lydia bring Kira with her?" he asked in a light, teasing tone.

She shook her head. "No, she came alone."

Stiles then narrowed his eyes as his mind went back to earlier today. When the lights flickered over them at school and Kira had told him and Scott that it wasn't her. And how she said it wasn't her again at the library. At the time, he thought she was just embarrassed or anxious about it. But, with it happening here too, when she wasn't there, what if it really hadn't been her fault?

He then pointed up to the still flickering lights. "How long have the lights been doing that?"

"Uh, a little over an hour," she answered. Her face fell and she started to grow concerned when she saw a very familiar look on his face. One that always was focused on trouble. "Why?"

"I think I better call Malia. And you should probably call Scott."

After he called his girlfriend and told her what was happening, Stiles decided to head up to the roof and check out the generator himself. He hoped he was just getting paranoid, but before when there are power troubles in this hospital, it usually has a supernatural reason. One that almost always leads to pain and death.

As he got into the elevator and the doors closed behind him, he got a sudden chill and felt that he wasn't alone. He turned around and saw a woman in a hospital gown. The woman was…strange. Her long brown hair was covering her face, and she didn't seem to react to Stiles in front of her. When the elevator stopped, she slowly began to step out of it. There was something about this woman. He began to slowly move to keep her in his sight. As she moved through the halls, no one seemed to be moving or reacting but Stiles hardly noticed. His attention was on this woman and where she seemed to be leading him. He didn't know why, but Stiles felt a sinking feeling building in his gut that seemed to grow deeper every moment he watched her. When she turned a corner, the hair on her face brushed away and Stiles caught the full glimpse of her face, and he gasped.

"Mom," he muttered.

He then picked up his pace as he went after her. His mom disappeared down a door and Stiles followed after her and found himself on the roof, where she was standing on the ledge.

"Mom, what are you doing?" he asked, horrified.

"Claudia!"

Stiles looked over and his eyes widened as he saw his dad moving over for her. "Dad?" he mumbled as he saw his dad slowly approaching her.

"What are you doing up here?" he asked her.

His mom turned around to look down at his dad with a tired but scared look on her face. "I couldn't stand to be in that room anymore. Not with him looking at me like that."

His dad helped her move away from the ledge and take hold of her. "Claudia," he tried.

"He's trying to hurt me," she gasped as she broke away from him. "I don't care if you don't believe me, but he is. He's trying to kill me."

Stiles stared at the scene, with his face paling and his throat seizing up.

His dad moved to take her hand. "No, that's not true," he told her gently. "Now, come on down." She looked down at him before she finally let him help her get down. They then moved to embrace. "You have to remind yourself it's the disease," he gently told her, holding her in his arms. "Remember what the dementia does? It gives you delusions. It makes you think people are out to get you."

"No," she said shaking her head. "You don't see the way he looks at me."

At that, Stiles began to blink rapidly, as some tears began to swell in his eyes.

"Claudia, he's 10 years old," his dad tried to reason with her.

"He's trying to kill me," she cried at him.

She suddenly looked over, at him. Seeing the look of fear and pain in her face, Stiles felt the tears begin to drop and he moved to try and wipe them away. As he ducked his head, he caught the sight of his shadow, but it seemed smaller. The kind of shadow one would find on a small child. He then realized what this was. This was a memory. A lost memory.

"Stop!' her mother shouted, making him look back up at her. "Stop looking at me like that. Stop it!" she screamed at him. She struggled against his dad's grip but she broke free from him and ran at him. "Stop looking at me!"

"Mom, what are do-" Stiles cried as his mom started to slap and push at him.

Stiles tried to hold his ground but he lost his footing and fell to the ground. He kept crying at his mom to stop attacking him but the image of her started to blur and was replaced by a teen with razor sharp teeth and fangs. He then roared at him, making Stiles snap back to reality. It was a chimera. He brought his feet back and pushed them at the chimera, making him tumble back, away from him. Stiles quickly moved to get back to his feet, at the same time the chimera did. Stiles slowly lifted his head to reveal his teary face with now glowing blue eyes and his own set of fangs. A small, pained growl sounded from his throat.

* * *

Scott, Malia and Theo walked into the hospital and they could see that the lights inside were dimmed and there was some flickering in a few of them.

Scott turned to look at the two of them. "Okay, you guys find Stiles and Lydia. I'm gonna find my mom." He then went off to find her.

Malia and Theo went off in another direction until they came upon a fork.

"Hey," Theo told her. "We should split up. You keep looking around here, I'll check upstairs."

She nodded. "Okay."

As Malia went off, Theo let a small smirk fall on his face as his eyes went up.

As Scott headed for his mom's station, he turned a corner and came across the Geneticist. Before he had a chance to react, the Dread Doctor went and grabbed him, slamming him into the wall. As he was held there by his throat, the Geneticist moved his other hand, which started generating sparks, and brought it right into his chest. Scott gasped as he felt electricity flooding into his body, shocking his heart and lungs. His eyes widened as he realized that he couldn't breathe. He tried to get to his inhaler but it fumbled in his fingers and fell to the ground. The Geneticist then threw down to the floor. Scott grabbed at his chest and he rolled over to look over at his dropped inhaler. He reached for it desperately but the Geneticist went and stomped on it, breaking it into pieces. Scott grew more afraid as he felt it even harder to breathe and his gasps were getting more louder and desperate. The Geneticist stomped over and grabbed at Scott's throat and lifted him up into the air. Scott was trying to kick and pull himself away but he felt his strength leaving him as he dangled helplessly in the Dread Doctor's grip.

The elevator nearby opened and Malia stepped out of them, letting out a roar. Next to her, Melissa McCall gasped as she saw her son getting chocked to death before her eyes. Malia ran for the doctor, making him let Scott go so that he could avoid the assault from the werecoyote. As soon as Scott hit the ground, Melissa ran over and move to pull her son to safety.

"Scott, c'mon let's go," she said as they ran off to the side. Her heart grew heavy as she heard the way he was breathing.

Scott collapsed after a few feet and he saw his mom pull out some kind of syringe. "Wait, what is that?"

"A bronchodilator, trust me, it'll work." She then moved to inject it into his leg.

Scott felt the stab from it before his insides began to deflate from the injection. After a few seconds, his breathing began to ease up.

Malia was trying to land a blow but nothing seemed to connect as the Geneticist either avoided or blocked every strike. Then, the doctor went and grabbed at her throat. He moved to send a blow at her head but Malia managed to slip out of his grip just in time. As Melissa yelled at her to run, she began to back away and head off for the elevator. The Dread Doctor stomped after her as Scott watched fearfully as he got closer. Malia threw herself into the elevator and Melissa moved to close the doors as soon as she got through. The three of them grew scared as the doors began to close but the Geneticist grew closer. He was reaching for them but the doors managed to shut barely a second before he could get to them. They heard a deep clang from where the Geneticist impacted against the door but the elevator had already begun to move.

The three of them let out deep sighs of relief at the fact that they somehow managed to get away.

"We never should have read that book," Scott gasped out.

Malia let herself lean back into the wall in response.

* * *

On the roof, Stiles and Josh were tumbling around as they fought each other. Stiles threw a punch at Josh's head that made him stumble back a bit and the chimera got frustrated and let out a growl. He ran for Stiles but he moved and threw Josh off to the side, flipping him onto his back. He couldn't be more thankful for all that sparring practice he had gotten during the summer with Satomi. She had used that move on him more times than one. Stiles moved to try and grab Josh but the guy grabbed at Stiles' leg. Before Stiles could move to try and shake him off, he felt jolts of electricity flood into it and he seized up. Stiles let out a pained scream as he felt himself begin to burn up from the inside out. Josh then threw a kick at Stiles' chest and sent him flying off to a corner of the roof. His body began to smoke a bit as he felt all the nerves of his body firing off like firecrackers. Stiles' fangs and claws disappeared as he felt like his body was made of lead and couldn't move. As Josh got up and stomped for him, Stiles helplessly watched as the chimera moved to grab at his sweater. His eyes widened as he saw Josh bring out his claws, ready to rip him apart.

But before he could, his hand was grabbed. They looked over and saw Theo, fully shifted, and he roared. Theo then moved and threw Josh off, into the opposite end of the roof. Theo then ran and started striking at him. Josh began to fight back and managed to knock Theo off his feet, before slamming his foot down on his wrist.

From where Stiles laid, he couldn't help but appreciate that move, as it was one he had used on hunters before, and wondered if he should've done that at the start.

Theo snapped out of it and used his other hand to push Josh away before getting back to his feet. Josh moved to try and stab Theo with his claws but he moved to catch his wrist before he used his other hand to send some hard and quick punches into the chimera's gut. Theo felt this had gone on long enough and quickly grabbed at Josh's neck. His gold eyes glared at him for a moment before he moved and tore his jugular out, sending blood everywhere. Theo's hand was dripping in blood as he watched Josh's feet give out and he fell to the ground, choking on his own blood.

Stiles felt himself getting feeling back in his body and he moved to try and get back to his feet, but stopped to look down at the sight of Josh on the ground, jerking as his eyes dimmed before he just stopped moving. He couldn't help but remember the night with Donovan. How he stared back at him with a pole impaled in his chest before his life left him. Suddenly, the numbness that Stiles had felt seemed to burn away and he found himself firmly back on his feet as he kept staring at Josh's body.

"Stiles," he heard Theo saying. The guy was still shifted, with his gold eyes looking pleadingly at him. "Please, don't say anything. You can't say anything."

"Why not?" he asked suspiciously.

"Because, I never said anything about Donovan."

* * *

A/N: Things are heating up now. Theo's slowly getting deeper and deeper into everyone's heads, especially Malia's. I hope you liked the return of Ethan and Jackson. With Stiles' new lupine connections, it made sense that he would try to use them in any way he could. And, I thought a meeting between Ethan and Stiles would be overdue as the last time they were together was when Aiden was killed fighting the Nogitsune wearing Stiles' face. In the finale, all we had was some brief awkwardness with Stiles and Jackson when they met again.

I would also like to take this time to point out how easily judgmental Scott was during all of this. The book revealed dark and deep seated issues that had been repressed and forgotten for each of them but Scott's was pretty tame in comparison to the others. It's like he was spoiled that the memories he blocked out and forgot involved an accident with his pet compared to lobotomies, murder attempts by a mother, getting dosed by the Dread Doctors, and a mother in dementia blaming her young son for trying to kill her. Though, I plan for the book to reveal something else to Scott that, if he's smart enough, he'll be able to connect back to…well everything that's happened to him and Stiles in this town.


	18. The Kanima and Former Alpha

Chapter 17: The Kanima and Former Alpha

The night that Jackson Whittemore got bitten by then new Alpha Derek Hale, he thought that his life would get itself back on track. Instead he had found that his life had flown off the rails started to drift off into the sea. A sea that's current took him from Beacon Hills, California to London, England. After he had apparently been misdiagnosed as dead after that fateful night on the lacrosse field, his parents decided that it was best to just get away from a town that had too much bad memories for them. So, his mother suggested they go back to where she had gone to school, London.

Once he settled in London, Jackson found that he had no desire or strive to regain the shining high school star life he had left back in Beacon Hills pre-bite. His parents had tried to talk him into trying out for the lacrosse or swim team, like before in order to try and get some new friends, but Jackson wasn't interested. He knew he wasn't well versed in controlling himself and was resolved to just keep his head down and not call attention to himself. At least one thing he felt that made him smarter than Scott had been when he first turned.

While Derek Hale had taught him what he needed to do in order to try and maintain control of himself before he left, Jackson found it was much harder than he thought. To let out some anxiety or built up tension, sometimes he would take to running in the local grand parks around London late at night. Not exactly the woods surrounding Beacon Hills but it was as good as he could hope for under the circumstances, which frustrated him. Scott had been a drama queen and Stiles had been a headcase, yet the two of them seemed to go about their lupine lives so casually, so fast after they turned. It only got worse when he found that sometimes, he found himself growing a tail when he shifted. A serpent's tail. A leftover from being the Kanima.

About a month after he had moved to London, he was approached by two guys belonging to the pack that had lived around there. They had detected him and had been watching him since he had arrived and wanted to see if he was fit to join their ranks. Their pack was a decent size, about 11, including an Alpha that was in his late 30's named Garland. Jackson was an Omega and he knew that the only way he would gain more power, and control, was if he belonged to a pack. Yet, when the pack saw that Jackson had a tail, and dug into his past back at Beacon Hills, Garland refused to take him in and make him a part of his pack. Though, the alpha said that he could stick around as long as he didn't make trouble for them, Jackson simply responded by giving him and his betas all the finger before leaving. As much as he hated to admit, being rejected like that had hurt him. What made it worse was that Jackson couldn't find it in himself to blame them.

Jackson deserved this solo and lonely existence. He remembered what Stiles had ranted about him when he was trying to get the bite, about how he wasn't worthy of becoming a werewolf. And Derek ranting at him that he was nothing special; just a selfish, spoiled, rich kid. The spaz and the recluse had both been right. It was from this that Jackson found his anchor, hate. Of himself. Because he was a pitiful and worthless freak, even among other freaks. Self-loathing had become his anchor. One that actually seemed to give him a decent amount of control over himself.

And he went and let himself zip through his senior year of high school without much care or thought. In the days leading up to his graduation, he had no idea what he would do with his life. But then, he went and ran into Ethan.

* * *

When Aiden had been killed, Ethan found himself feeling broken. Far more than he had felt when Jennifer Blake had stripped him and his brother of their status as Alphas. The night that his brother was buried, Ethan tried to drink his sorrow away, but his healing didn't let the buzz last for more than a few seconds, even after he downed two full bottles of vodka. It got to the breaking point when he went and saw his brother's bike, that he would never be able to ride again. He then went and started to just let loose on it. Kicking, clawing and throwing it about to just let it feel more miserable than he did. He then took the mangled thing and left it in the local junkyard and got on his bike and rode out of Beacon Hills.

But, where to go? Ethan knew that there were still a couple of packs out there that would like nothing more than to rip him to pieces for what the Alpha Pack had done during their bloody reign. That was why he and Aiden wanted to be in Scott's pack. As a True Alpha, he would have enough of a reputation to protect them, and though he was sure Scott would take him now, Ethan didn't want it anymore. He couldn't stay in the place where he had lost everything. So, Ethan decided to go to England as Deucalion once told them that used to be his old stomping grounds. There might be some sympathizers for him there and he would be able to be safe there.

When he got there, he quickly learned that while some of the native packs wouldn't give him trouble, they wouldn't take him in either. There was always a chance that there would be wolves that wanted retribution for the Alpha Pack's actions and didn't want to stir up trouble by taking him in. Ethan realized that he was going to be on his own. For months, he wandered the countryside, until his path brought him to London. As he just took in the local sights, his senses suddenly flared up as he came upon a café where he found another werewolf, sitting outside and sipping on some coffee. His eyes flared blue under his helmet as he found him, and as they did, the guy turned over and looked over at him. Ethan tried to ride away but the guy ran after him and caught him at the intersection when the light went red. Got in front of him and jammed his hands down on the handlebars.

"Who are you? Are you spying on me?" he spat at him.

Ethan pushed his helmet's visor up. "No," he spat back.

"Then who are you?"

"Just a guy passing through, Jackson."

That made his jaw tighten. "How do you know my name?"

"We have a mutual friend in common."

Soon, they got to talking and realized that they had a mutual friend in common.

"So, you're Danny's latest ex?" Jackson asked, leaning himself back in his chair.

The two of them had gone back to the café and calmly talking to one another as they sipped on some lattes. Jackson was a little calmer than before and Ethan wasn't as hostile.

Ethan couldn't help the smile working its way onto his lips as he thought of Danny. "Yeah. That's how I recognized you. He had a photo of the two of you together in your lacrosse gear pinned on his locker door."

He nodded. "How is he? Danny?" He hadn't spoken to him since he left Beacon Hills. Or, to anyone really.

Ethan shrugged. "He's fine, I guess. Last I heard he graduated a semester early and went to a university somewhere off the east coast. Virginia, I think."

Jackson smiled. "I'm not surprised." His friend was always an over-achiever. "And Lydia? Did…you know her?"

"Oh, yeah, I knew her. Not as well as my brother did though."

Jackson could smell…what he believed was grief coming off him. "Sorry, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

Ethan cleared his throat. "No, it's just…it's been a while since I talked. To anyone really."

"Yeah…same here."

* * *

The two of them felt at ease with each other as they saw that they had a lot in common. Both of them were essentially self-made outcasts. Felt like they once had the world in their fingertips, Alphas of their own worlds, and now had become Omegas that no one wanted. Over time, the two of them found themselves regularly hanging out and talking with each other over the next couple of weeks. Ethan even was invited to come to Jackson's graduation, which he attended. Soon, Jackson started getting tips from Ethan about how to handle his shifts better. While the tail seemed to make Ethan uneasy when he first saw it, the guy seemed to quickly get over it and would even make cracks at him about it from time to time, which Jackson found annoying though didn't mind them too much. Being around Jackson made Ethan feel better than he felt in a while so he decided to stick around London for the time being.

Ethan filled in Jackson on things that happened in Beacon Hills while he had been gone. Jackson learned of Scott becoming a 'True Alpha', which he still didn't quite get. He also was a little upset to hear about what happened to Allison and knew that Lydia would've taken her death hard. Though, not as hard as Scott would've. And Stiles, he found that he could somewhat picture what the guy was going through, as weird as that was. He knew a thing or two about being used as someone's puppet, though knew that Stiles cared far more about others than he ever did.

Overtime, things between the two of them began to change. They were happy being good friends until, one day, Ethan went and gave Jackson a surprise kiss, out of nowhere. Ethan didn't know why he did that and quickly apologized for it before he went to leave. But Jackson went and pulled him in for a kiss of his own before he could take off. Jackson was a little thrown that he was gay but found that he didn't care as he really did like Ethan. The guy made him feel better and happier with himself than he felt in the longest time. And…it didn't hurt that the guy was hot, well, almost as much as himself, though Ethan would argue that it was the other way around. The two of them soon found themselves in the best relationship the other had ever had.

Jackson and Ethan were hanging around his place, taking about taking a road trip through Europe, when there was a knock on the door. Jackson answered it to find one of Garland's betas standing there with a hard look on his face.

Jackson found his good mood dropping fast. "What do you want?" he asked the guy a bit shortly.

For the last year Jackson had a 'I don't bother you and you don't bother me' arrangement with Garland's pack. Yet, there was no love lost between them, especially after they came to threaten Ethan when he first came around to not bring any trouble or they would tear him to pieces.

"Garland has something to discuss, with him," he said, pointing his chin over in Ethan's direction.

"What?" Ethan asked.

"He didn't say. Only that it was something he had to tell you in person and I was to escort you. Immediately," he said, roughly stretching the last word.

"Are you kidding me?" Jackson started to complain. "Garland couldn't come himself, he had to go and send a messenger telling us to come over and see him?"

Ethan just sighed. "Be happy, he's actually being considerate. Most alphas I've met would've had us jumped and dragged to him with bags over our heads."

"Alright fine, we're coming," Jackson slurred out.

But the werewolf held his hand out and stopped him. "Uh, before we go, I should tell you guys that where I'm supposed to take you has a bit of a dress code."

Jackson and Ethan went to put on their dinner jackets and fancy trousers before they let their escort move to take them down to downtown London. They soon found themselves over at a nightclub where they could see a line of about two dozen people waiting to get in. Jackson made out a sign over the entrance that read: Crescent Blue Moon. The two omegas were brought over around to the alley and came up to a metal door that he went and gave a special knock to. Soon enough, the door opened and the sound of music was quickly heard as a thickly built bouncer stepped out. He gave the beta and the two omegas a small look before he let two glowing blue eyes show.

"Garland's expecting you," he told them in a deep voice. He moved aside to let three of them head on inside.

Back in Beacon Hills, Jackson had gone to a few warehouse parties and raves but this place had them all beat. There was blue, green and white strobe lights flickering overhead as dozens of clubbers were dancing to the music being spun by a rocking DJ. There were small tables surrounding the dance floor with some people standing next to with their drinks while the walls were plush seat booths lining them. In some of them were small groups or couples talking, laughing or making out. At the far end, Jackson could make out an exquisitely stocked bar with four cute bartenders. Jackson suddenly didn't mind getting dragged down here anymore. They were led off to a booth at a quiet corner of the club where a sharply dressed Garland was sitting in wait with a handful of his betas.

"Ah gentlemen, thank you for coming," he greeted them as soon as they arrived.

"Nice place," Jackson said, giving the club another once over before looking back at Garland. Just then, a cocktail waitress came by and placed a Mai Tai in front of him. "Yours?"

"Oh no," he laughed out. "This is my Second's actually." He moved to take a small sip of his drink. "But, I am a patron and frequent customer of his. Please sit," he said gesturing to the seats at the opposite end of his booth. "Drink?" he asked as they slowly settled themselves into the booth. "The Mai Tai's here are top notch."

"Yeah, sure," Jackson muttered. Ethan gave a nod himself.

Immediately, the cocktail waitress left to head for the bar. Ethan cleared his throat and made eye contact with the Alpha.

"So, why did you want to see me?" he asked Garland.

Garland moved to lean back a bit. "You do remember the stipulations that I pressed into you when you first arrived, do you Ethan? I don't want trouble from you. I have enough issues and problems without dealing with anyone else's."

"I haven't been causing any trouble," he defended.

"Oh, I know that. But, what about trouble looking for you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Recently, I received a whisper. It turns out that an Alpha back west has been sending feelers out about how they could find you. Asking for any kind of information whatsoever."

Ethan stiffened up. If there was someone trying to track him down then it couldn't be for anything good. He knew that when he was part of Deucalion's pack they had made quite a few enemies. He wondered which of them it was.

"Do you know who it is?" he asked.

"Satomi Ito."

"Satomi?" Ethan said taken aback. He wasn't expecting that to be the answer.

"Who the hell is Satomi?" asked Jackson.

"She's a Buddhist Alpha whose territory is in the area of Devenford."

Jackson's eyes widened in surprise. "What? That's practically next door to Beacon Hills." There had been another alpha? Jackson thought that Derek Hale had been the only one around at the time.

"And she has quite the formidable reputation," Garland threw in.

"She's Buddhist," Jackson tried to argue. "How dangerous can she be?" It sounded like hippy dippy nonsense to him.

Garland rolled his eyes. "Teenagers today, ruled by general conceptions and impressions. Samurai were Buddhists themselves and they were the most lethal warriors of their age." The cocktail waitress returned at that moment and placed drinks in front of the two omegas. "In her early days, Satomi was a very lethal and aggressive woman. Embracing Buddhism has given her focus and drive, which essentially makes her all the more formidable. Good thing, considering some of the rumors popping up around that area."

"What rumors?" asked Ethan.

Garland then flew into a brief explanation of the new 'hybrids' that were appearing and the so-called Dread Doctors that were creating them. "And now, in the midst of all that, Satomi is looking for you. I hope you can start to understand my concern."

As far as he knew, Deucalion had no desire to cross Satomi's path as he was both respectful and wary of her as Garland seemed to be.

"I have no idea what Satomi wants. I never gave her any trouble and I have nothing to say or do with these, Dread Doctors. It's probably nothing."

"Yeah, unfortunately I'm going to need more assurance than that. Someone like her doesn't put in this much effort to find someone unless there's a serious manner to be had lad. If you want to stay around here then you'll go and pay her a visit. The last thing I need is for her to come and bring her kind of trouble here."

"What? He can't just give this Satomi a call?" Jackson spoke out.

"And risk her coming here herself. I'm not going to have unwarranted trouble for me and my pack. What if she wants does want your head, and realizes that I allowed you to stay in my territory? That makes me a collaborator. I would have no other choice but take your head myself and give it to her to maintain peace. No, you'll go and sort out…whatever this is. If it really is nothing, then there's no harm in it, right?" he asked, giving Ethan a pointed look.

Ethan let out a hard breath before he nodded. "Right," he said in a hard tone.

"Good. Please, feel free to stick around and enjoy the rest of your night."

Garland then moved to leave the booth with his betas and left the two of them alone. Ethan huffed before he moved to begin downing his Mai Tai.

* * *

Ethan quickly moved to purchase plane ticket for California, but was thrown when Jackson went and purchased one for himself.

"You don't have to do this," Ethan had told him. "I can go see what Satomi wants for myself."

"And what if she wants to see your insides?" he said back.

"Worried that I'll let her," he tried to say wittedly back.

Jackson rolled his eyes. "It won't hurt for you to have backup."

"Look, I'm sure Garland is overreacting. Satomi may have had a vicious streak to her but she also has an honorable reputation. It probably is just nothing."

"Well, to quote that hard ass, 'If it really is nothing then there's no harm in me going with you, right?'"

"Alright, fine," Ethan surrendered. "Let's just go."

"Not without my Porsche," Jackson added.

* * *

They reached San Francisco and from there, began the drive down to Devenford, but they would have to drive through Beacon Hills. When they got into the town limits, the two of them fell quiet. Neither of them could believe that they were there again, at least so soon. Driving his Porsche through these once familiar streets, Jackson couldn't help but feel a bit nostalgic. He was snapped out of it when he sensed smelled sudden high emotions coming off Ethan due to seeing a guy on a motorcycle. One that he thought looked like his brother's.

They headed off into Devenford and they pulled up to a beautiful looking house close to the woods. Seeing it, he couldn't help but compare it somewhat to the old Hale House, before it was burned down.

"Alright, we're here," he grunted. "Now what do we do?"

"We knock on the door," Ethan said simply, before he let himself out of the car and headed off for the front door.

"Right, knock on an Alpha's door, why didn't I think of that?" Jackson slurred out before he got out to follow him.

After hearing about this Satomi woman from both Ethan and Garland, Jackson readied himself to face a hard and stone cold bitch of an Alpha. Yet, he was thrown completely off by what he did see when the door opened. An old woman with a pleasant look on her face, smiled at the two of them..

"Yes, may I help you?" she asked.

Ethan nodded. "Hello, my name is Ethan. I believe you were looking for me, right Satomi?"

"Oh, you received my message," she sighed out.

Jackson eyes widened. "Wait, you're Satomi?"

"Yes?" she said, giving him a bit of a look. "Is that a problem?" Satomi tone dropped a bit, as did her eyes, which made Jackson have a sudden urge to back away.

Ethan bit the edge of his bottom lip to keep himself from laughing when Jackson quickly shook his head. "So, what is this about?" he asked, getting them back on track.

"Why don't you come in? I'll brew some tea and we can talk."

Satomi went on to explain that she had sent word that she was trying to find Ethan, but not for herself. She had been asked to locate him by Stiles.

"Stiles wanted to find me?" he asked, shocked that this was what this was all about. "Why?"

"He needs to talk to you, urgently."

"Why?"

"He has questions only you can answer," she answered cryptically.

Jackson sighed. "If only we thought to just pick up a phone and call? Oh wait, I did."

Ethan ignored Jackson's sarcasm. "Fine, I'll head over to the school and talk to him."

"Uh, I don't think he's there right now. There is something a situation in Beacon Hills right now."

"We heard," Jackson slurred out.

"Well, we weren't planning on staying here long. We have a flight in the morning."

Satomi nodded. "I understand. Just, let me give him a call and ask that he come here."

Satomi then went over to the other room and reached for her phone to quickly call Stiles up. Jackson and Ethan listened in and heard his voice talking with her through the receiver. Jackson suddenly got to his feet.

"Hey, I'm going to go out for a bit," he told him.

"And go where?"

Jackson just shrugged. "Just going to check on some things." And he was uncomfortable with the thought of seeing Stiles, or Scott again. "I'll be back around 6, okay?"

"Alright," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

* * *

Stiles didn't take too long to get to the house after Satomi had called him. It was barely an hour when he was walking right through the front door and Ethan came face to face with him. The very last time that Ethan had seen Stiles was when he was comforting Lydia as he was cradling his brother's body in his arms.

"Ethan…what are you doing here?" the guy asked when he seemed to get over his shock.

He rose his eyebrows at that one. "What am I doing here? Weren't you the one looking for me? You went to Satomi and asked for her to send feelers out to try and find me."

Stiles rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, I didn't know where you were after…"

"Aiden." Ethan wished that Stiles didn't try to step delicately around that.

"You just left without a word to anybody."

"Yeah, there wasn't a reason to stay anymore," he said gruffly.

"Right…but I thought you would, I don't know, give me a call or send me an e-mail or something. Not come all the way back to town."

"Believe me, we didn't want to come back here."

"I didn't ask you t-" Stiles stopped and then narrowed his eyes. "Wait, did you say we?"

"What?"

"We. You said, 'we didn't want to come back here'. Are you here with somebody?"

Ethan wanted to wince at his slip. Jackson didn't want any of them to know he was back in town. He guessed there was still some bad blood with between him, Scott and Stiles. But he decided to cover up his slip by hurrying this up. "What did you need to find me for Stiles?" he asked impatiently.

Stiles face then grew serious. The kind he saw from the guy when things got dark or serious. "I wanted to ask for your help."

He could guess about what and neither he nor Jackson were up for it. "Do you? You know, I've been hearing some crazy stories and rumors about what's been happening after I left. If you were trying to ask if I could help you fight against these mix and match freaks showing up-"

Stiles cut him off. "That's not it. I needed to ask you some stuff."

"About what?" Did he think he had some information about the Dread Doctors, by experience or from Deucalion?

"About your pack. Your old one, before you and your brother joined up with Deucalion. And the alpha you two killed to get your power."

Ethan rose his eyebrows up. "Why?" he asked, surprised. Why did Stiles go through all these hoops to ask him about his pack?

Stiles' face hardened. "Because, there is a werewolf here who claims to have been turned by him. And you're the only one who could prove for me once and for all that he's lying."

"What are you talking about? And, please make it quick. I can't stay long."

"Before school started, this guy named Theo Raeken came to town. He actually used to live in Beacon Hills as a kid. He went to school with me and Scott back in the fourth grade but he moved away a couple of years ago. But now, he's a werewolf. According to him, he was turned by your Alpha but before his first full moon, you and your brother killed him."

Ethan narrowed his eyes as he let that sink in. "Well…that might be possible. Our alpha didn't exactly share his day to day activities with us, especially me and my brother."

"Yeah, I figured. But, he also said that he had met another of his pack a few weeks later who told him the whole story."

Ethan quickly shook his head. "No, that can't be right. Aiden and I, we didn't spare a single one of them," he said in a bit of a hard tone. Thinking about them now, the ridicule and hell that they all put them through, even after all this time it still hit a sore spot.

Stiles nodded. "I know. I felt how much hate you guys had for them, remember? It was back when we fought at that condemned building. I tapped into the event scar left on you and your brother from the sick pleasure your old pack had at tormenting you guys and the hate you had at them. I had seen each of their faces, laughing at you."

"Event scar?" Stiles then went into a quick explanation of what he learned of them from Satomi. "So, that's what that was."

"Yeah, I've gotten some better control over it but it's still kinda touch and go for me, literally," he mumbled off. "And then, I remember you telling me and Scott that you two had worked your way through your pack one by one, saving your alpha for last. That seemed like a major hole in Theo's story but Scott didn't catch it."

"But you did. Well, that guy's story is completely wrong. After we killed our pack, we didn't leave right away. Deucalion wanted us to stay a while and adjust to having our new rank as Alphas before we left with him, Kali and Ennis. If there was a freshly turned beta around, we would've found him."

"Where was this exactly?"

"Detroit."

"I thought it was supposed to be lions in Detroit, not wolves," Stiles said with a bit of a snicker. Ethan gave him a mild exasperated look. "See you haven't lost your sense of humor."

"What do you think this Theo guy is up to?" he asked, getting back on point. "Why would he lie about who turned him?"

"I don't know, but from the moment we met him something has been telling me that we shouldn't trust this guy."

"Instinct?" Stiles then nodded. "Well, from what I've seen, your instincts are among the strongest level for werewolves to have. One of the reasons why Deucalion was taken with you. Would've tried recruiting you into his pack if he had the choice."

"I'm flattered," Stiles said flatly.

"So, now that you know his turning story is crap, how are you going to tell Scott?"

Stiles shook his head. "No, I can't tell him, yet. If I go to Scott with just this, he'll just think that it's all probably just a mistake. That I'm just grasping at straws to prove I'm right. Besides, there's still a chance that Theo can somehow talk his way out of this."

Ethan narrowed his eyes a bit. He could sense some hostility in Stiles' tone. Not towards Theo, but Scott. "Stiles, why are you working so hard to get Scott to listen to you?"

"Because he never seems to anymore. I mean, it was hard enough before, but now it's practically impossible," he mumbled roughly.

"Before what?"

"Before this." Stiles then looked up and flashed the blue glow of his eyes. "Scott can't even look at me when these come out. Every time I shift them, he always looks away and doesn't look back at me until they're gone. He can't stand the sight of them."

"What are you talking about? Scott has been around werewolves with blue eyes before. Me, my brother, Derek, Peter. Even Malia."

"Yeah, but Allison wasn't the one who made yours or their eyes go blue," he huffed out. "Scott can't see the eyes that killed her. I'm sure you get how he feels."

"You didn't kill Allison, Stiles" Ethan said simply. "Or Aiden." Ethan didn't blame Stiles for what happened to his brother. He never did, but it felt like Stiles wanted him to.

"I think these eyes would disagree with you." Stiles then moved to make his blue eyes dim go back to their normal honey brown.

"The blue is a parting gift from that demented fox. You don't have a killer's eyes Stiles because you aren't one."

Donovan then moved up to the front of Stiles mind. "Want to bet?" he muttered more darkly than before. Stiles then moved to throw himself into a nearby chair.

Ethan stared at him for a while, able to detect a complex mix of emotions coming off the guy. It seemed that more seemed to have happened and be happening that he wasn't sharing. Not that Ethan cared, or want to care, about Stiles. But he did have a degree of begrudging respect for the guy. So, he cleared his throat.

"Stiles, do you remember the night at the Glen Capri?"

"Uh, creepy motel in the middle of nowhere, that made you try to saw yourself to pieces and made Scott try to burn himself to death…vaguely," he shrugged.

"Well, you stopped me from doing that. But, do you remember what you said to me when I asked you why you did that, considering that we were all trying to kill each other back then?"

Stiles shrugged. "Can't say I do."

"Well, I do. You said that if I was going to be taken out, then it would be on your terms."

Stiles lowered his gaze to the floor. "Sorry about that."

"Don't be. That actually made me start to respect you." That made Stiles look back up at him. "You showed me that you had a code. And unlike the hunters, you keep to it, no matter how hard it is. I was your enemy, but helped me because to you in that moment, I was an innocent person and you wanted to protect me from being the Darach's next victim. You could've let me die and no one would've blamed you, but you didn't, because you have a code. Killers don't have codes Stiles. I've killed enough people to know, innocent people. My eyes, these eyes, they're ones that belong to a killer." He then let his own blue eyes glow. "Doesn't matter if they're glowing or not. You don't have these eyes."

Stiles felt some tears threatening to break through. "Are you sure about that? If it came down to it, I was prepared and willing to kill you back then if I had to."

"Yeah, _if_ you had to. And there, you just proved my own point. You'll do whatever you need to do to protect innocent people and those you care about. You would've killed me, if that's what it took to stop me from hurting or killing anyone else. Killers don't concern themselves with things like that, they just kill, whoever and whenever they want. But, that doesn't matter, what matters is believing it yourself. And I can't and won't do that for you."

At the top of the stairs across the room, Satomi stood, listening with a grim look on her face.

* * *

Jackson went over to the local welfare center to check on a certain 1 year old girl. It was the girl that he had orphaned, well, that he and Matt had orphaned. He had killed her father and Matt had killed her mother. Before leaving town, he looked into the child and heard that she was placed into state custody. And she had been given the name Carmen. After Jackson turned 18, he went and left a small trust for Carmen and asked that she not receive it until she turned 21. Also, he left instructions that she not know about it until then. He didn't want her to turn out like he had. Right now, he wanted to check on how she was.

After he verified who he was, and why he was there, he was told that Carmen had been adopted about six months ago. They couldn't reveal who it was but they did tell them that it was a nice couple who lived out in Bakersfield. He was happy to hear that, but it didn't stop him from feeling some guilt.

Afterwards, he decided to pop on by Lydia's place. As he pulled up to it, he couldn't help but smile at how it looked exactly the same it did as he left. He saw Lydia's car in the driveway, which meant she was home. But, he saw that there was a police van parked right next to it. His heart jumped, thinking that something was wrong. He quickly listened out for Lydia and found her voice, calmly talking with someone else. Whoever this cop was, Jordan he heard Lydia call him, the two of them sounded…chummy. He felt a twist in his stomach as he heard how Lydia was talking with him. True, he was with Ethan now, but Lydia will always have a place in his heart. Yet, he also found that he was happy that Lydia seemed to have found someone that she could truly be herself with. He can hear the care that 'Jordan' seemed to have for her in his voice as he spoke to her.

And they were talking about Lydia having visions and her being a banshee. Ethan had told him all about that and explained that this part of her had been dormant until it seemed to have awakened after she had been bitten by Peter. Jackson was surprised that his high school girlfriend had been supernatural herself. It seemed like it was a common trend in this town. It looked like they were talking about the problems that seemed to be gripping this town. When he heard that they were getting ready to leave, he started up his car to get out before Lydia spotted him. She didn't need him drudging up the past right now.

Besides, he had to go and pick Ethan up.

* * *

Ethan was standing off in the front of Satomi's house, staring off into the distance. He had been there since Stiles had left. He had gotten a text from Lydia and was on his way to the hospital. After thanking Ethan for his information, he got into his jeep and drove off. The sun had gone down and Ethan was just taking in the view. After months of being in the noise and bright lights of the city, it was actually nice to be close to actual wilderness.

"That was a good thing you did."

Ethan looked over to see Satomi stepping outside and heading over to him. "What do you mean?" he asked her.

"What you said to Stiles. About the nature of a killer."

He shrugged. "Well, I wasn't trying to be nice."

That made her give him an amused grin. "Well, he'll need it. More than you could ever know."

"Why, because he's evolving?" That made her grin flatten a bit and that made him grin back. At the corner of his eye, he spotted two headlights approaching. "Ah, my ride's here."

Jackson spotted the house up ahead and he headed up to it with his head looking out the window. He was ready to take him and get them out of this place. But as he was closing in, his blue eyes flared up as a scent entered his nostrils. He started to feel his tail begin to find its way out and he stopped the car. He then looked off to the trees to his left and a pair of golden orbs briefly lit up in the dark before they blinked out. Eyes, and Jackson could feel their owner making a run for it. He leapt into the trees after it.

Back at the house, Ethan and Satomi grew concerned.

"What's happening?" Ethan asked.

Satomi let her red eyes reveal themselves as she looked out. "Jackson's chasing after something." Barely a second after she said that, Ethan ran off and Satomi was right behind him.

Jackson ran through the woods and could make out a figure darting around through the trees. They weren't running on the ground, but darting from tree to tree like a pinball. Jackson was gaining ground and when he was just below his target he went and jumped for them. He extended his tail out and the end struck out for their foot and managed to just wrap around an ankle. The shock of it made them panic and they ended up falling for the floor. Jackson saw that it was a girl around his age, but the kanima part of him saw her as prey. A tasty morsel to hunt down and devour.

Courtney had gone to spy on Satomi's place to make sure they were staying out of the way when she had spotted Stiles jeep parked out front. She had watched from the safety of her usual hiding spot and later saw him leave the house along with someone she didn't recognize. After Stiles left, the guy stuck around and she moved about to try and get a better idea of who this guy was. When she spotted another car, a Porsche approaching, she moved to get a better look but was shocked when the driver just stop the car and seemingly look up towards her, she panicked and ran away. She was worried when he started running after her and gaining ground but was caught off guard when he used his serpentine tail to intercept her. Her eyes widened when she saw that he had a werewolf's eyes and fangs, coupled with that tail.

"Are you one of us?" she gasped. Could this guy be a chimera made by the Dread Doctors?

But Jackson didn't say anything. He just glared down at her, slowly letting his claws retract. It freaked Courtney out and she quickly brought out razor sharp needle claws from her right hand and jammed them down at the tail still holding her. Jackson let out a pained roar that was a mix of a wolf howl and serpent's hiss and his tail's grip loosened and she pulled herself away. She got on her feet and brought out the claws in her other hand and snarled.

Jackson dove for her and she backed away to avoid the swipe from his claws. Courtney made her own swipe at Jackson but he batted her hand away before he spun around in an effort to whack at her with his tail. She barely managed to duck away from it and it hit the branches of a nearby tree. Courtney dove for the fallen branches and threw them at Jackson's face. It stunned him for a moment, but a moment was all she needed for her to get a good swipe in with her claws. The claws cut into his sternum and caused him to fall back.

Courtney stood over him, raising her clawed hand up, ready to quickly make a killing blow. The next thing she knew, a knife went and found its way into the her shoulder and she screamed out in pain.

"Get away from him!" Ethan yelled through the trees.

Her eyes widened as she saw him and the Alpha running for them. It was one of Satomi's combat knives that had been thrown at her and the Alpha was twirling her other one, ready to throw it.

"Your other arm is next!" she shouted as they got closer.

Courtney quickly ripped the blade out and made a mad dash into the trees, heading for the denser and darker part of the woods.

Ethan moved over and kneeled down in front of Jackson. "Are you alright?" he quickly panted out.

Jackson gave out a pained grunt. "I see Garland was actually right. That Satomi really is a badass."

That made Ethan let out a relieved chortle. He then looked over at Satomi, who was walking up to retrieve her blade. "Who was that? She smelled different." He then looked at the marks she left on Jackson's chest. "Those aren't werewolf claw marks."

Satomi lifted the blade to see that there wasn't red blood on the blade. It was metallic gray. "Mercury," she muttered to herself. "That must've been a chimera."

"She was watching the house," Jackson coughed out.

"Spying." Satomi's eyes narrowed into a fine glare. "Wilson." That must've been his killer, or one of them at least.

* * *

After cleaning his wounds back at Satomi's house, over an hour later Jackson and Ethan found themselves back on the road.

"You sure you're alright?" Ethan said, behind the wheel. He had insisted that he drive to let Jackson have time to recover.

"I'm sure. Let's just get out of here."

Ethan looked up at the rear view mirror, seeing the distant lights from Beacon Hills grow fainter as they zoomed down the highway.

* * *

A/N: Honestly, I originally didn't plan for a chapter like this. Originally, I planned for Jackson and Ethan to have the final segment with the attack from Courtney in the next chapter but then I was hit with this idea. I'd love to hear what you all think of it.


	19. Strange Frequencies

Chapter 18: Strange Frequencies

Stiles didn't know how long he and Theo had stared at each other. Theo's face had shifted itself back to normal from his fight with the chimera whose body was still there, the blood around his torn out neck still oozing fresh blood. Theo eventually decided to break the silence.

"I know what happened to Donovan. I know everything."

Stiles didn't let him continue. He stomped over and grabbed at his shirt and then pushed him back into the fence of the backup generator, making a few sparks get set off.

"You don't know anything," he grunted at him.

Theo then surprised Stiles by grabbing him and pushing him against the fence, making more sparks fire off. "I was there!" he spat at him. "I was at the library. Malia had found the book. She was texting us to see where you were. She said she left you at the library. I told her I was close. When I got there, I heard the scaffolding come down."

Stiles took a moment to remember Donovan taunting him with Malia calling him that night. Theo was telling the truth about that. And, if he was telling the truth about that.

"You saw him?" Stiles said, realizing what Theo was saying.

"Just the body."

"Then why didn't you say or do anything?" Stiles then accused. If he was there then why didn't Stiles see or hear him.

"I was going to, but then I saw the cop car." That made Stiles deflate and then the two of them let go of each other. "And the body was gone."

Stiles narrowed his eyes. "Did you see who it was?"

"No. I only saw what you saw and I didn't say anything because you didn't." Suddenly they could hear the sounds of an approaching siren. "That's not an ambulance, is it?"

"No," he mumbled. "That's my dad." Stiles then moved towards the body.

"We should get out of here," Theo said suddenly.

He looked back at the still bleeding body. "We can't just leave him."

"Fine, all right, let's take him," Theo said, making Stiles look back at him. "Someone's stealing the bodies anyway, right? This could be our chance to find out who," he tried to argue.

Stiles couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You killed him."

"In self-defense," he argued back, making Stiles give him a bit of a glare. "He was going to kill you and me. If we stay, we're either going to have to tell the truth or we're going to need a pretty convincing story." That made Stiles look back at the body again. And they could hear the sirens getting closer. "It's your choice. I'm not going to ask you to lie to your dad."

Stiles tightened his jaw a bit. He knew that if his dad and Scott learned about what Theo just did, then Theo would very well turn around and tell them about Donovan. Theo wasn't asking him to lie, he could feel the guy was subtly _telling_ him to lie. Stiles sighed out in defeat. "Don't worry. I've had plenty of practice."

* * *

Outside the hospital, Noah Stilinski stepped out of his van alongside Jordan Parrish and after they exchanged a tense look, they headed on inside. Someone called the station about seeing sparks shoot out from the roof and hearing loud crashing sounds inside. When the both of them had heard the call, they quickly left the station and headed straight there without delay. After all, when something like that happens either at the hospital or the high school, then that usually meant that some kind of supernatural scuffle just took place. They moved through the dimly lit halls and found Melissa McCall passing a light over Scott's eyes as he followed it.

"Mom, I'm fine," he tried to tell her.

Melissa narrowed her eyes at him and Noah could understand why. Scott was sweaty, pale and seemed a bit roughed up. He then saw Malia not too far away and it looked like she had been through something herself.

"What happened here?" Noah asked as he and Parrish got over to them.

"The Dread Doctors," Scott said simply.

That told them everything they had to know.

"Are the three of you okay?" he asked them.

"We'll heal," Malia muttered.

"Scott?"

They looked off to the side and saw Lydia approaching from down the hall, a worried look on her face. Parrish let off a sigh of relief and went over to her side.

"Are you okay?" he asked her.

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. I was in the operating room when the lights started going crazy and then I heard a lot of noise in the halls." She then noticed the state that Scott and Malia seemed to be in. "It was them, wasn't it?"

Scott quickly went on to explain everything that had happened from he and Theo learning of the chimera causing the problems at the school to the Dread Doctor attacking them.

"Wait," Melissa suddenly cut in. "Where's Stiles?"

"Stiles?" Noah quickly asked.

"Yeah, he came in before the attack happened but then went off someplace. I thought it was to look for Lydia."

She shook her head. "No, I didn't see him. I'll try calling him," she said, reaching for her phone.

Lydia managed to reach Stiles and he quickly assured her that he was okay, and had left the hospital. Something she quickly relayed to his father and the others. She then handed the phone over to Scott so he could talk to him while Noah started to pace himself away a bit and Melissa quickly went over and placed a calming hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Stiles is okay," she said, trying to reassure him.

"I seriously doubt that." He then sighed. "Something is going on with my son Melissa, I can feel it."

"You're worried, I get it. I am too. Something is happening to all of our kids."

"Yeah I know. First, Malia almost walks right into a speeding car on the road. Then Lydia has a fainting spell out of nowhere. Now Scott has an asthma attack both at school and then here. It's because of that book, isn't it?"

All of these scary things that were happening with his Scott and the others, it seemed to start when that book came into the picture. Right now, it seemed that Stiles wasn't affected but Noah knew his son had a habit of hiding things wrong with him. He would almost bet that whatever reason that Stiles had left the hospital, that book was at the center of it. Just more reason for him to keep Parrish away from trying to read it himself.

Melissa nodded. "Scott seems to think so."

Scott had just finished talking with Stiles. Apparently, he and Theo had come across another chimera. One that was dead and they were taking the body to the animal clinic. He quickly told him about what just happened and that he was on his way to meet them there. He then moved to find his mom and tell him that he had to go when he picked up his name coming from her. He then saw that she and the Sheriff were talking off by themselves and started listening in on them.

"You know, if I ever find that Valack I swear I'm going to beat the living hell out of him for putting our kids in danger like this," the Sheriff continued. Scott saw his mother look like she had a similar thought in mind. "The last thing I need is for my son to start getting panic attacks again or sleepwalking into traffic because of that man's damned book. Especially when he's trying to hide that's something bothering him already."

"What are you talking about?" Melissa asked, with her son sharpening his attention.

Noah sighed. "For the last few days, I've noticed that Stiles seems...distant. Sometimes I would catch him just deep in thought, with a troubled look on his face. As if there's something big on his mind and weighing him down."

"What do you think it is?"

"I have a good hunch. The other night, I went to check on some of my things and noticed that the Georgetown letter is missing. I'm sure Stiles found it."

Melissa widened her eyes but Scott just narrowed his down in confusion.

 _'What Georgetown letter?_ ' Scott thought to himself.

* * *

Over at Sinema, Hayden was running out of the front door. After he had seen the glow, Liam had quickly flown into an explanation of the supernatural to Hayden. He remembered what happened to the other chimeras and he didn't want that to happen to Hayden. Needless to say, Hayden was both angry and freaked out as she tried to distance herself from him. Liam was running right behind her.

"Hayden, wait!" Liam cried off after her.

She just kept walking, not looking back. "Asking me to close my eyes was weird. Sticking a glow stick in my face, even weirder, but werewolves and dead doctors?!" she spat, turning back to glare at him.

"Actually it's Dread Doctors," he quickly corrected.

"Whatever. Get away from me."

She pushed herself away and tried to hop into her car but Liam couldn't let her go. He realized there was one way that would stop and make her listen for sure.

"What if I could prove it to you?"

"Prove what?" she spat at him.

"This," he sighed. Liam bent his head down, focused and then let himself shift, right in front of her.

"Ahh!" Hayden screamed as Liam let out a small growl at her and she quickly threw a punch right at Liam's nose.

It was so sudden and stronger than he expected that it made him shift back to normal as he landed on his back. As his nose bled, Hayden quickly hopped into her car and moved to drive away.

Hayden was feeling her heart beat hard against her chest. She had just seen Liam grow fangs and had glowing eyes. Hayden was scared and was just trying to get as far away as possible as she drove herself through the woods. She tightened her grip on the steering wheel and then felt a throbbing heat on her knuckles that seemed to spread to the rest of her hand and up her wrist. She moved to pull the car over in a wooded area and saw that her knuckles were bleeding. Punching Liam's face seemed to had cut them slightly. Yet, as she rubbed them, she then saw that the cuts were closing up. Her eyes widened when there was nothing but stained blood as the only traces of them left.

Suddenly the radio turned itself on and white noise started to sound into the car. Hayden squinted her eyes a bit from the sound before a distorted voice started speaking through it.

" _Your condition improves_."

Hayden was so freaked out that she moved to try to turn off the radio only it didn't turn off, but the car did. The engine just copped out and the lights blinked themselves off, making everything around her dark. She was starting to get freaked out again and tried to start the car over again but the engine didn't start, no matter how many times she turned the ignition key.

" _Hayden,"_ the radio went off again. " _Hayden."_

Hayden then looked up ahead and saw three figures walking slowly for her. The Dread Doctors. As they walked, the headlights over them started to explode and spark. Hayden started to cry in fright as she moved to try and get out of the car but the door locked on her. She tried to unlock it but it locked again the moment she did. She was stuck and she saw those three were still heading for her, getting closer with each step they take.

Suddenly, the roof above her opened as her skylight was torn off. She screamed but she stopped when she saw that it was Liam.

"Hayden, come on!" he screamed at her.

After he gotten back to his feet, Liam had taken off after her. He had managed to catch up to her car in time to see her in trouble. The Dread Doctors were steadily approaching and Liam knew that he would be no match for one let alone all three of them. Hayden seemed to snap out of her stupor and threw her hand out to him and he pulled her out of the car. They then moved to run, resolved to get as far away as they could.

As they ran, the three doctors stopped and watched them disappear down the road. The Surgeon tilted his head slightly before he moved to pull a small vial out from his jacket. A vial containing the small amount of Stiles' blood collected from the school.

"To another then," he said to the others, before tucking the vial away again.

* * *

Stiles and Theo had gotten the body out of the hospital and to the back of Stiles' jeep without anyone spotting them. Thankfully, the engine started without any hassle and they were soon off. Yet, after a few minutes, Stiles' phone began to ring and he saw that it was Lydia. He had forgotten that she had been in the hospital and quickly moved to put it on speaker phone. As soon as he did, Lydia's frantic voice quickly filled the jeep as she asked if he was alright. When he assured her it was, her voice was then replaced by Scott's. He then went and informed him that the Dread Doctors had attacked him and Malia.

"Is she alright?"

"Is she alright?"

Stiles and Theo had asked the question at the same time. In the same worried tone. That made Stiles narrow his eyes at him while Theo simply stared back. And they both breathed a sigh of relief when Scott quickly answered that she was fine.

"Good, she's okay," Theo muttered almost inaudibly under his breath.

Stiles heard it though. Trying to ignore an itch forming under his fingertips to bring out his claws, Stiles then went on to explain that he and Theo had found another chimera but he was already dead and they were bringing the body to the animal clinic.

"Alright, I'll be there as soon as I can. You remember where the spare key is?" Scott asked him.

"Where it always is," Stiles said back before he hung up.

"You didn't say anything to Scott about how he died," Theo said as soon as he did.

Stiles kept his narrowed eyes on the road ahead. He didn't answer him and just kept driving. It stayed that way until they eventually pulled up to the animal clinic. Theo moved off to the back of the jeep to pull the body out while Stiles moved to grab the hidden key behind a loose brick in the molding and opened the door. They made their way to Deaton's examination room and placed the body right on the table.

Theo went to stare off as they waited for Scott but Stiles let himself begin looking closer at the chimera now that he had a spare moment. The guy's fangs were peeking out from his closed lips a bit and Stiles could smell the faint scent of burnt rubber coming off them. No doubt from him chewing his way through power cables all day. His eyes then fell down to the guy's claws that were still on the ends of his fingers. A sudden tingle burned up from his ankle, and he looked down where there were holes that had been made when those claws had torn them. The chimera had used those claws to shock him. It had been more intense than getting zapped by one of Argent's shock sticks. Stiles still felt a bit buzzed from all that electricity pouring into his body. His best guess was that this guy must've somehow actually ate the electricity from the school and hospital, stored it into himself and then used some of it on him.

At that, Stiles moved to rub at his head in thought. What was the deal with these chimeras? First a werewolf that tried to drain Scott's power with talons, a girl with werewolf teeth and claws but a kanima tail and venom, a guy with werewolf claws but scorpion stingers on his arms, and now some kind of lupine electric eater. What are the Dread Doctors trying to do by making these things? What was the point to all this?

Theo noticed the look on Stiles' face as he stared at the body and he could see the gears turning behind his eyes. "What are you thinking?" he went and asked, trying to break their silence.

Stiles simply brought his eyes up to look at him but didn't say anything. Even if he was in the mood to share his thoughts, Theo would be the last person he would share them with. He didn't have to dwell on it long as his phone started ringing. Stiles looked at the caller id and was surprised to see that it was Satomi.

"Watch him," he told Theo as he moved to leave the clinic.

Theo resisted the urge to snort in indignation. But he did let his hearing expand out to try and catch who was calling Stiles.

"Satomi, what's up?" Stiles asked her as soon as he picked up.

"Stiles, something has happened," she told him. "Another chimera appeared tonight."

"Yeah, at the hospital. I was there."

"What? No, Stiles. I mean, here, at my home."

"Seriously?!" he gasped. "What happened?"

"It was a little over an hour after you left. It was a girl, maybe two or three years older, she was lurking around, watching my house. I'd never seen her before."

"Then how do you know she was a chimera?"

"She had foot long needle like claws and she bled mercury blood when I stabbed her."

Stiles nodded. "Yep, definitely a chimera. Did you catch her?"

"No, she escaped. But, afterwards I swept the area. I found lingering fragments of her scent in a few places. I'd say she's been watching us for a while."

"Yeah, Wilson did mention that he caught someone lurking around before he was killed. Do you think that you just found his killer?"

"No, I don't think so. Believe me, if she was the one who killed Wilson, I would known it. What I do know is this wasn't random. This girl seemed to know too much for it to be an accident or coincidence. I think that she was working for someone. Probably Wilson's real killer."

"The Dread Doctors?"

"Maybe, or it could be someone else. Someone who's using the chimeras they're making."

Suddenly, Stiles began hearing the hum from Scott's bike approaching. "Listen, I gotta go. But, if I hear more than I'll definitely let you know."

"Thank you. And if you or your friends need help, we'll be there. This chimera business has now officially become personal for my pack and I."

Back inside the clinic, Theo wanted to break something. Killing Wilson Grant was supposed to eliminate the threat from Satomi's pack. Now they were more dangerous to him than ever. If that alpha got herself involved and came upon him there was a chance that she could blow his cover. But, for now, he had to quell his anger. Scott's bike pulled in and he heard he and Stiles greet each other before heading on inside. Theo just let himself lean against the wall like he had been casually waiting the whole time.

When Scott got there, Stiles moved to pull the cover over the body back to show it to him.

"Do you know him?" asked Theo.

Scott gave a small nod. "It's Josh. He's a junior."

As Scott said that, Stiles narrowed his eyes a bit. Stiles did think he seemed vaguely familiar. One of the faces he was accustomed to passing down the halls at their school. Probably meant he was quiet and used to being invisible, at least until he became a chimera and let himself become intoxicated with his new power, literally, given how he seemed to have chewed his way through the power at the hospital and at the school. He could see that Scott was getting more anxious as he stared at Josh so Stiles moved to cover him up. Things were tensed up enough with the attack at the hospital.

"I guess this means that we owe Kira an apology," Stiles said, lightly trying to settle them.

Scott shook his head. "Which of them did it? The one with the cane?"

Scott naturally assumed that the chimera was killed the same way that Tracy and Lucas were. Stiles looked over at Theo, letting him handle this one.

"Yeah," Theo muttered.

Stiles narrowed his eyes for a second before he turned and looked over at Scott. "What are we going to do with him? We can't just set the alarm and leave. That didn't stop them from taking Tracy."

"And they had no problem taking Lucas from the hospital either," Theo put in.

' _Or Donovan'_ , Stiles silently added to himself.

"I know," Scott breathed out as he let his head hang down a bit. "So, what do we do?"

Stiles had a suggestion. "Okay, how about we have someone stay here with him? Keep watch and make sure no one takes him."

"And what if who or what is taking the bodies is too strong for them to stop?" Scott said.

"Then…at the very least, we actually find out who it is."

"I'll do it," Theo volunteered, making the two of them turn to look at him. He shrugged at them. "It's not like I had a big Saturday night planned."

Before anyone could say anything to that, Scott's phone started vibrating. He took it out and saw that Liam had just sent him a message. One that made Scott's eyes widen.

Stiles noticed Scott's heart start jumping and his anxiety shoot up again, making his own peak too. "What is it?"

"Another one. Another chimera."

"Who found them?"

"Liam. He says it's Hayden."

With that, the two of them rushed out with Theo watching them go. He turned to look back at the tarp covered body and kept his gaze on it as he heard Stiles' jeep and Scott's bike leave the lot. As soon as they did, he went to pull out his phone and quickly went to call Courtney. He waited only a few seconds before he heard Courtney's voice answer.

"Theo, I was actually about to call you?"

"Really? It wouldn't happen to be about you getting caught at Satomi's place, would it?" he said, his tone barely concealing anger and aggravation.

* * *

Ruben was laying on his bed, calmly playing some video games before he had to turn over for bed. His parents were 'working late' so he had the place to himself. So needless to say he nearly jumped out of his own skin when a person came into his room from his window.

"Whoa!" He held his chest and began to settle himself when he saw that it was Dean. "Geez, are werewolves allergic to using the front door? You nearly made me wet my own bed!" he spat out.

The werewolf hardly batted an eye. "There's been a development," he said simply.

Ruben narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"My Alpha and I just came back from a meeting we had with the other alphas from the northeast. Most of them have started getting swayed to forming a region wide alliance."

"That's great, I guess."

"But, Oscar requires a greater show of power and capability before they could support him in his bid to be the one to lead the packs in this alliance. We need for you to get the confirmation for us about the identity of the father of the Hale baby. Oscar can't risk moving against them and creating an incident if it turns out to be a dead end."

Ruben sighed. "Hey, I've been trying. Cora is not an easy girl to get to open up. It's taken me weeks just for her to be comfortable to hang around with a few times away from school. And...she's actually pretty cool."

"So, I take it you don't care anymore for getting your reward then?"

That caused the teen to shrink a bit. "I didn't say that."

"Well, if you still want it then you do the damn job I gave you."

"Like I said, I've been trying."

"Then try harder," Dean spat. "And faster. You have until the night before the full moon. Get that information, and with one word from me, Oscar will gladly reward you in more ways than one. If not," He then shifted his claws out. "I rip your throat out and show it to you. Are we clear?"

Ruben swallowed nervously and gave Dean a nod. "Crystal."

* * *

When Scott and Stiles got to Scott's house, they didn't spare a moment going up to his room where they found Liam anxiously pacing around and his face filled with relief at the sight of them.

"Where is she?" Scott quickly asked Liam.

He simply pointed to the bathroom.

"She knows what's going on?" Stiles asked.

Liam ran his hand frustratingly through his hair as he let out a heated sigh. "I tried to tell her but she doesn't want to believe me," he muttered impatiently.

Stiles couldn't resist a snort. "Oh, and you were so ready and willing to listen when we tried to explain everything to you," he scoffed

Liam froze as he let himself remember what happened back when he was first bitten. He looked over at Scott who apparently agreed as he stared back at him with a condescending look on his face. "Alright, fine, you have a point," he surrendered. "Now, can you help her, please?" Liam said, sounding kind of desperate.

Scott and Stiles shared a look. If it was true, and Hayden was a chimera, it would be the first one they've managed to get before the Dread Doctors. Add in the fact that she wasn't going around and using her new powers to try to hurt people and drop bodies. They had to help Hayden. Not only for hers and Liam's sake but maybe for everyone's. This could be the break they were looking for to get real insight into the Dread Doctors and what they were doing to these people. And why. They gave Liam a nod.

Scott moved and gently gave a small knock on his door. "Hayden? It's Scott," he said in a calm, assuring tone. "I know that you're scared, but we just want to help." There was no response. Scott pressed his ear closer to the door and backed away after a moment. "Her heart's beating like crazy. She's completely freaked out."

Stiles nodded. "Yeah, I can practically choke on her anxiety from here. Liam, you said you tried to tell her. What exactly did you say?"

The young beta ducked his head a bit as he tried to avoid the eyes of his Alpha and Second. "Uh, well, I kind of…shifted in front of her."

"Oh my god," Stiles muttered, rolling his eyes as Scott stressfully rubbed his thumb and forefinger over his closed eyelids.

"I had to do something," he defended.

"And you're sure she's a chimera?" Scott cut in.

He quickly nodded. "She said that she heard a voice saying, 'Your condition improves'."

"Improves?" Scott said before sharing another look with Stiles.

They remembered that Malia had heard the Dread Doctor say back when Tracy had been killed, 'Her condition was terminal'. But Hayden's condition improves, what could that mean?

"Yeah, that's unsettling," Stiles said as he pushed his way to the door and gave it a knock. "Hayden, it's Stiles. Your sister Valerie works with my dad at the station." He hoped that throwing in that familial bond would calm her down a bit. "Please, just open the door, it's okay, you can trust us."

But there was no sign that Hayden would open the door. Stiles stepped away and Scott took over again.

"We just need to tell you the truth Hayden and that kind of thing is usually better face to face. Listen, either you're gonna unlock the door or I'm going to have to break it down. Look, it's okay if you're not ready to talk or you don't want to believe us. But I just…I gotta know that you're okay in there." One chimera was already lost tonight. He couldn't lose another, he just couldn't. Especially one that was right there with him.

After a few seconds, there was still no response from Hayden. Scott gave them both a look, silently telling them to take a step back. Before Scott could move to break it down, the door suddenly opened up for them. As the door slid itself slowly, they looked upon Hayden as she was looking at her hands, which were sporting claws. Her mouth was slightly open and her fangs were peering out at them and she moved her glowing yellow eyes at them. She looked like any other werewolf they had come across. Yet, she hadn't been bitten by an Alpha, the three of them knew that. She was definitely a chimera.

"I believe you," she peeped out at them, still looking at her raised clawed hands.

* * *

It was early in the morning as Kira was walking with her father as they were carrying boxes of supplies into the school. The hallways were empty and quiet being that it was Saturday.

"Thank you for your help Kira," her father said as they closed in on his classroom.

"Not like you gave me a choice," she sighed as he moved to open the door.

She waltzed in and went to place the box on his desk. He came up and put his next to her but stopped her before they could go.

"There's one more in the car. I'll be right back," he said before he left her there and closed the door behind him. As he did, stood off to the side and stood watch. "It's all on you now Noshiko," he mumbled to himself.

In the classroom, Kira began to shuffle through the contents of the boxes. Nothing in them seemed very important. It looked like basic supplies and junk. It didn't seem like it was worth the effort to come in early on a Saturday. She wanted to be off with Scott and help him with the new chimera that they had found. She was so consumed with the thought of it all that she almost didn't react in time to the battle yell behind her. Kira jumped out of the way just as a sword came down.

Kira's eyes widened at its wielder. "Mom?"

Her mom didn't spare a second to respond as she moved to try and strike at her again but Kira jumped back and moved to step on the blade's end to keep her mom from lifting it up again.

"Kira, where is your sword?" her mom panted at her.

"Uh, I didn't bring it," she sputtered out. The sword was pulled out from under her foot before her mother moved to throw it at her. Kira caught it and watched as her mom went to grab another sword strapped to her back. "Mom, this isn't what I would call quality mother-daughter time," she tried to reason with her.

But her mom wasn't deterred. "Kira, defend yourself," she said, leaving no room for debate.

Outside the door, her father was watching them. He wished that this wasn't happening but his wife insisted that it was necessary. When Kira came to him yesterday asking for his help in reading the Dread Doctors book, he had said that he would be happy to. Then she had told him that she was having trouble already as her friends were blaming her the shortages of power that had been happening around the school. She was hoping to find out if the book would help her find out what was up with her lately with her blackouts and her sudden fits of rage. At that, he had quickly gone to Noshiko and she told him that she had been sensing something off about Kira since they had come back to Beacon Hills from their trip. And she felt that Kira was having more problems than simply being unable to read the book. The incidents back at the station and the club were known to them and it looked like it was only getting worse. This wasn't like Kira that they needed to find out what was causing this sudden shift in her behavior. But to do that, they had to temper the fox within their daughter. As he watched Kira bring her sword up to answer her mother, he hoped that this helped them see what was wrong.

Kira moved throw a strike but Noshiko quickly blocked it. As they kept going, it became apparent that Noshiko was on the offensive and Kira was simply on defense. She was getting backed away into the corner until Noshiko went and knocked her down. Kira then found herself getting angry and when she got back to her feet, she angrily twirled her sword before she charged for her mother. Kira soon went on the offense, trying to re-gain some ground. After losing about five feet to her daughter, Noshiko met her blade and stood her ground.

" _Who are you?_ " Noshiko grunted out in Japanese. Kira grunted out in response and she moved to try and strike at her again. Noshiko met her attack and moved to pin her down. " _Show yourself Kitsune!_ " she shouted, again in Japanese.

Kira's eyes suddenly let out an orange glow and she moved to push her mom away. As she stood up to face her, her aura flared up and she leapt into the air, right for her. Noshiko brought her blade to intercept Kira's strike but her daughter went and broke the sword on contact. Her mother looked at her broken sword in horror before she fell back and silently pleaded to her daughter to stop. Kira just screamed and moved to continue her attack.

Seeing his daughter not stopping, Mr. Yukimura threw himself into the room and into her sight. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the obsidian star and threw it down to stick it into the table. "Kira, stop!" he screamed at her.

At the sight of her tail, Kira gasped and she seemed to snap out of whatever trance she seemed to have been in a moment ago. She stared at her sword, and then at her mother, horrified.

"I could've killed you!" she snapped.

"Not you," Noshiko gasped out. "The fox inside you."

Kira looked from her mother to her father, both of whom had frightened yet concerned looks on their faces. What was happening to her?

* * *

Stiles was sitting in his room, writing Hayden's name up on his board with all the other chimeras they had discovered. His father was in the room with him, solemnly staring at the girl's name with tired eyes.

"So, Hayden is a chimera. I can't believe it," Noah muttered.

"Yeah," Stiles sighed. "Neither did she at first."

"Is she okay?"

When his son turned to give him a look, Noah wanted to give himself a good slap up the head. Of course the girl wouldn't be okay.

"She's scared. Hayden stayed over at Scott's with Liam because she didn't want to be alone. And she didn't want to want to go home and risk her sister seeing her if she shifted," he finished, sympathetically.

Noah nodded. "Valerie," he said almost to himself.

Hayden's sister, well more accurately half-sister, Valerie Clark. The young woman had graduated from the academy and become a deputy not too long ago but had quickly become one of his most reliable and favorite officers next Parrish. She often spoke about her little sister fondly and Noah knew that Clark was now her legal guardian given that their mother had passed from a stroke over a year ago. Clark had been there when they had found the holes at the lacrosse field. Holes that the chimeras had dug themselves out of. One of them must've been Hayden. Noah could just imagine how Clark would feel if she were to find out that her sister had been buried and dug herself out from one of those holes. There was a part of him that felt that she should know and another praying she never found that out.

Stiles continued on. "From what we can tell, Hayden seems to be the closest to a werewolf we've seen out of all the others. Feels and smells a bit like one but there's a little of something else mixed in there too."

"What? Does she have a lizard's tail too?" Noah asked, inwardly cringing at the memory of Tracy's attack at the station.

"Oh no, thank god for that, but it still might not good."

"What? What else is she?"

"We think she might be part werewolf, part Nagual. Were-Jaguar," he said, seeing his dad's confused face.

"Jaguar? Wait, do you mean like-"

"Kate," Stiles cut in with a firm nod.

Last night, after the three managed help Hayden relax and shift back, Stiles had told them that he was picking something from Hayden that felt…familiar. Liam said that he felt that way too, like it was on the tip of his tongue. Both their wolves knew what it was, it just wasn't coming to them. Scott had been silent as they tried to put their finger on it before he suddenly told them that he recognized the feeling as the one he felt when he had been captured by Kate over six months ago. At that, it was like a switch went off for the both of them and they realized that Hayden must be a wolf/jaguar chimera.

Noah moved to stressfully rub at his left temple. "Does Hayden remember anything about when or how this happened to her?"

Stiles shook his head. "No. She doesn't remember a thing. Not about the Dread Doctors, what they did to her, or being buried. That's what they do. Make you forget."

"Any idea why they chose her?"

"None," Stiles slurred out.

Stiles went to grab his pen and moved to make some notes under Hayden's name on his board. His father moved to stand by him, looking at all the different photos before looking over at him.

"These mad scientists-"

"Dread Doctors," Stiles quickly corrected.

Noah rolled his eyes. "I'm not calling them that. Why would they be creating these things to begin with? What's the goal here? What do they even want?"

Stiles shrugged his shoulders. "Deaton says they're trying to change the rules. These chimeras have supernatural powers but they don't follow the supernatural rules. Mountain ash doesn't work on them and one of them nearly stole Scott's power."

"So...you think they're trying to make something better?"

"Or worse," Stiles muttered.

"Why?"

"I don't know." He suddenly thought of what Satomi told him last night. What if it wasn't even them this was all for, but someone else? Someone working for or with them.

Noah then looked over at the small stack of photos on Stiles' bed and noticed one of Josh Diaz. He quickly moved to scoop it up. "Stiles, why do you have this?" He turned and showed the picture to his son and watched his eyes avert away. "Stiles, this kid was reported missing last night. His father came to the station and told us he hadn't been seen in three days." Noah knew the look that came over Stiles' face. Something happened. "Stiles, talk to me. What's going on?"

Stiles didn't answer right away. He spent a moment, trying to think of what to do. Finally, he decided that he better bite the bullet and tell his dad. He then explained that Josh was a chimera and how he had found him. Stiles didn't explain everything, but enough. As much as he shared with Scott about what really happened on that roof. Needless to say, his dad wasn't happy.

"So that's why you disappeared last night?" Noah didn't know if he should be relieved or horrified that it wasn't for why he thought last night. "You found another body and didn't say anything? Stiles, you can't just find a body and not report it."

"Dad, the kid has fangs peeking out of his mouth and claws on his fingers. How are you supposed to explain that? After Tracy, I thought you would understand."

Noah's jaw tightened. He didn't like to think about that. There were still heavy raw feelings leftover from when he had to let Deaton and the kids remove Tracy's dead body from his own station. "And what am I supposed to say at the station? My deputies are looking for this kid right now."

"Dad, you can't say anything. Someone or something is taking the bodies. We have to find out who and why."

Noah quickly started to rub at his temple to relieve the stress. "Are you going to at least tell me where the body is?"

"We took it to the animal clinic. Theo is watching it now."

"Theo? I thought you didn't trust that guy?"

"Oh I don't trust him alright." ' _Now more than ever,_ ' he mentally added. "But with him there at least I know where he is and what he's doing." This would give Stiles a chance to really look into Theo, with no danger of that guy getting in his way or manipulating what he finds.

Noah could see that his son was up to something. Something that he felt would get him closer to finding out what he felt Theo was hiding. Yet, he was still worried about his son. He could see he wasn't getting much rest and that there was still much bothering him. "Stiles, is there anything else you want to tell me?"

The sudden question made Stiles stiffen up. "Uh, what?"

"Is there anything else that's happened that I should know about?" he asked, pointedly. "Now that we're on the subject, is there anything else that you want to tell me?"

For a moment, Stiles was afraid his dad was talking about Donovan. His dad was staring at him, patiently waiting, and Stiles realized that he wasn't. It seemed to be a general question and he let himself calmly shake his head.

"No, I don't think so."

Noah knew his son could smell his mood so he tried not to let his disappointment escape him as he nodded back. "Okay. So, what do you guys plan to do about Hayden?"

Stiles moved to check his watch. "I'm going to meet with Scott about that now."

"Okay. I'll keep quiet about Josh, _for now_ ," he tensely said. "But as soon as you stop this body snatcher, you're turning the body over, agreed?"

Stiles nodded. "Yeah, okay."

"Alright, go and help protect your friends."

Stiles gave him a small smile before he moved to leave the room. Noah then looked back at the faces of the chimeras on that board. The ones that were dead. He really hoped that the picture of Clark's sister didn't end up joining them. He just wished he could do more to help. He then moved to pick up a copy of the book that Stiles kept on his work desk. He ran his finger over the cover and it stopped right over the word Doctors on the title. His eyes then narrowed in thought.

* * *

Cora was busy working on a report in the living room with Jason's basket crib nearby. He was currently sleeping away. For the first time in days. Lately, Jason had been irritable, crying or fidgeting at long and sporadic times, but now Cora guessed that her son had used up all that infant energy and was now tuckered out. Derek was away at the moment and had told her that he would be gone for a good part of the day. When she tried asking what he was doing, he simply said that he had some personal stuff to see to. Cora couldn't help but wonder if Maggie was at the center of what that personal stuff was. Cora knew Derek and Maggie had history, an actual good history compared to most of her brother's other relationships. This time being close to each other was obviously rekindling some old feelings and Cora couldn't help but mentally root for them. She liked Maggie, and she knew that Jason did too. These past seven months, she was seeing a side to her brother that she hadn't seen for the longest time, and she knew that Maggie was a strong part of that.

She was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard the buzz from the doorbell. Cora got up and went over to the intercom.

"Hello?"

A familiar voice then started coming in from the speaker. "Oh Cora, you are home."

She widened her eyes. "Ruben?" This was a surprise.

"Yeah," his voice laughed out. "Uh, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out."

"I'm sorry, I can't. I'm busy working on my history report."

"Oh, well, I already finished mine. I could help you with yours if you want," he quickly offered.

"No, that's okay. You don't have to do that. I don't want you to waste your Saturday."

"It's fine Cora. Honestly, I don't really have anything to do right now. This might be the highlight of my weekend...and I'm going to pretend that sounded more cooler than it was," Ruben laughed out.

Cora couldn't resist a small giggle. Ruben sure was no comedian but he had his charms. Just like another guy she knew back home. She then looked over at the direction of her sleeping son. She was a little stuck on her work, but she wondered if seeing Jason might scare Ruben away. She was starting to like this guy. And he was the first real person she connected with since moving here.

"Cora?" she heard Ruben nervously call through the intercom. "If you don't want me to come up it's fine."

Cora quickly found herself hitting the talk button and then saying. "Come on up." She then hit the button for the door.

* * *

Stiles unfolded a map with Scott over at the school library. It was one of the town's telluric currents.

"Where's Hayden?" Stiles asked him.

"Liam's watching her at my house. I'm going to pick them up later."

"And why are you bringing her here?"

Scott pointed at the map where Eichen House was. "Valack said that Eichen House was protected by more than mountain ash. That's why the Dread Doctors couldn't just walk in whenever they wanted. That's because its on where the telluric currents cross. Well, Eichen House isn't the only place they cross. Look where else they do," he said dragging his finger down to the new spot.

"The high school," Stiles muttered. "That figures. But how are we supposed to stop them them from coming in anyway?"

"Well, the Dread Doctors move around in a different frequency, right? We just need to disrupt the frequency."

Stiles seriously doubted it could really be that simple. "And how are we supposed to disrupt a frequency?"

"Lydia and Parrish are on it. They're going to rig cell phone jammers and set them up to help keep them out."

"And what if they can't. What if the Dread Doctors still manage to get inside."

"Then we protect her," Scott told him. "Me, you, Liam, Kira, Malia."

But Stiles shook his head. "No Scott, you and Malia were almost killed last night and that was just against one of them. Besides, I can't be here tonight."

"What, why?"

"I'm going to the animal clinic to guard Josh's body."

"Theo's got that covered."

"Yeah, that doesn't exactly fill me with confidence."

It was plain to see that Stiles still was having problems trusting Theo. Scott didn't see why. Theo wasn't in their pack. He didn't have to do anything to help but he's been doing it anyway. It seems that all he wants to do is just prove himself but it seems that Stiles doesn't want to give him any chance at all.

"Stiles," he started.

Stiles cut him off before he could say a word more. "Scott, please, just don't. Okay? I'm going to go and guard the body, end of story."

Scott didn't want to fight again, not now. "Alright, fine," he sighed out heavily. "We'll still have four shapeshifters against three Dread Doctors."

"Well, not just four," Stiles said with a bit of a mischievous smile.

Scott rose his eyebrows in confusion.

* * *

"This all sounds like a long shot to me," said Kira.

"It's a long shot but it's the only one we got," Scott sighed.

The two of them were overlooking a map of the town's telluric currents in his kitchen. Scott had asked her to come over and he quickly explained the plan to her. Hayden was being brought to the school where Scott, Liam, Lydia, Parrish, along with Satomi and some of her betas would be keeping watch. Stiles was going to be with watching over Josh's body with Theo.

"What about me?" she asked.

"Well, you'll be with us. We're going to need all the help that we can get, so bring your belt."

"Actually," she said dropping her gaze a bit. "I think I lost it again."

"Uh, well I'll help you find it. Do you think you left it here?" he asked, ready to start searching his house.

"Scott," she said, stopping him. "It's okay."

Though her tone suggested that it was nowhere near okay. Scott could feel where Kira might be going with this.

"You're not coming," he realized.

She shook her head. "The last time I was around telluric currents, things didn't go so well."

He remembered what happened. How Kira had collapsed and her body had fired off electricity everywhere and he was barely able to carry her outside. He could feel how nervous and scared she was that this could happen again.

"This is the school. You're there every day. It's not the same," he tried to reason.

"I made it worse by being at Eichen. They used me to get inside. I don't want the same thing to happen again." She then went to take a deep calming breath. "I think I need to figure out what's going on with me before I try helping anyone else."

"Kira-" Scott muttered.

He moved to take hold of her hand and the two of them moved to gently catch each other's eyes. After a moment, the two moved to give each other a soft, comforting kiss. Quickly, the nerves on both of them relaxed and, for the moment, they forgot about everything else going on. Right now, it was just them. Just like their times they shared at Lydia's boathouse and at Derek's loft. But soon, the kiss ended and they had to break away from each other. Kira started to head on for Scott's back door but she stopped and looked back at him.

"If this works tonight, what happens tomorrow?" she asked. "Are we just gonna keep finding places to hide her?"

His eyes narrowed and his expression hardened into one of determination. "No, if this works tonight, we're gonna catch one of them."

* * *

Stiles stopped his jeep and let himself take the house in. It was a nice looking place, for a lying and potentially homicidal lunatic to hang out. He looked and saw that there was a car in the driveway so he knew that they were home. Stiles checked himself in the mirror and he nodded at his reflection before he sighed heavily and then got out of the jeep. He braced himself and could feel that his instincts telling him he wasn't being watched or threatened as he moved to ring the doorbell. He heard the footsteps and he made sure that he had a calm and pleasant look on his face as the door began to swing open.

"Hello?" the woman said as soon as she saw him.

"Hi Mrs Raeken. I'm Stiles."

"Stiles?" she repeated before taking a moment and then her eyes widened and she smiled at him. "Oh, Stiles. Yes, of course. Theo told us about you."

Though her tone was happy and she seemed at ease, her scent told Stiles otherwise. She was full of anxiety and was deathly nervous.

"Who is it?" they heard from inside.

"It's Stiles," Mrs. Raeken called out. "You know, one of Theo's new friends. Remember, he told us about them." She had said that last bit with some bite.

At that, Mr. Raeken almost ran for the front door. As soon as Stiles saw him, he quickly slipped passed Mrs. Raeken and moved to extend his hand to Theo's dad. "Nice to meet you Mr. Raeken." When Stiles looked down to see the man extend his hand back, he saw that there was a woven cast over his hand. "Whoa, what happened to you?"

"Oh, it's okay," he tried to shrug but Stiles could see the man was nervous. "I just sort of broke it when we were moving in."

"Right," Stiles said politely with a nod. "Well I'm sorry. I was coming over to meet Theo."

Mrs Raeken moved on over to them. " Oh, I'm sorry Stiles but Theo isn't here right now."

"Really?" he said, pretending to be surprised to hear that. "Well, I can stay and wait for him for a bit. It's no problem."

"Yes, of course," Mrs. Raeken said with a smile. "Is it Raymond?"

"What? Oh, no. Of course not."

It was clear to Stiles that they wanted him to leave but they seemed scared to say anything about it. The two of them were just smiling at him and, to be honest, Stiles was getting a creepy Pleasantville vibe from being there. As Stiles moved to sit and wait in their living room, he noticed some pictures. He saw one of Mr and Mrs. Raeken together, some with Theo with one or both of them, and even one of him alone. Yet, Stiles noticed that all of them seemed pretty recent.

"So, how are you settling back in town?" he asked, trying to settle them down with small talk. "I'm sure it's way different from Detroit."

* * *

Mason was at the school library where there were a handful of other people there. It was always a good idea to study and do research there on Saturday because it was always nice and quiet. Right now, he was at the printer, watching as it printed up the stuff that he had found online. When it was done, he turned to the front paper which was a printout of an old newsletter from the 1300's. It was a victim of an animal attack, found outside a village in the Baltic. It was all part of the research that Stiles asked for him to do. Mason still didn't know why Stiles wanted him to look into arcane werewolf lore, but he still found himself excited to do it. All this supernatural stuff was just so...surreal. And if it somehow helps to stop these Dread Doctors from making more of these chimeras then he would be happy to help. Especially after Liam had called him and told him about Hayden. He'd known her for years and the last thing he wanted was for her to end up dead like Tracy or Lucas.

And speaking of Lucas, Mason stopped in his tracks as he noticed the guy's ex, Corey, curled up in one of the shelves. The guy was reading and Mason couldn't help but think Corey looked kind of peaceful and cute reading there. As he stared, Corey looked up and Mason tried to avert his eyes and look like he hadn't been staring.

"Mason?" Corey called out to him before he could leave. "You're Mason, right?"

Mason cleared his throat and walked on over. "Yeah, and you're Corey," he said awkwardly.

Corey nodded. "You saw Lucas that night. My friend said that he saw you talking to him."

"Yeah," Mason muttered. "I met him, that night. He was really...cool." He wanted to slap himself as he kept talking. Mason could see Corey was upset as Lucas had died that night. "Listen, uh, I'm sorry about what happened."

"Did he say anything? About me? About what happened?" he asked nervously.

Mason guessed that Corey was looking for answers. About why Lucas attacked him and how he ended up in the hospital suffering from scorpion venom. He knew that he couldn't tell Corey the truth and just shook his head. "Sorry. I mean, I already told the cops everything that I know. Which wasn't much. I'm really sorry," he said, honestly feeling the last part.

Corey averted his eyes, feeling disappointment but nodded just the same. He then went to put the book he was reading back on the shelf and moved to leave. Mason watched him go a bit sadly before he turned and saw the book that Corey had been reading. It was one about miracle healing. Why was Corey reading about that?

* * *

Theo was pacing furiously in the empty animal shelter. The sun was starting to go down and there was still no sign of the body snatcher. He was agitated from the waiting all while reeling from the call he had gotten from his "parents" over an hour ago. They had informed him that Stiles had dropped by the house. Theo guessed that Stiles was looking for proof against him now that he revealed that he knew about Donovan on top of whatever he had gone to Satomi about last night. According to his parents, Stiles had made small talk asked simple and random questions about what happened with them after they left Beacon Hills eight years ago. They told him that they answered just like he had taught them and it seemed that Stiles left none the wiser. But Theo was sure that what Stiles asked was far from simple and random, and he somehow left with more things to try and use against him. He could feel it.

Things were starting to get out of his control. Stiles was closing in on the truth about him. Add in the fact that Courtney had been discovered by Satomi, who was now getting personally involved with helping in Scott's hunt for the Dread Doctors. Scott had called him a few minutes ago to give him a heads up. And to tell him that Stiles was on his way to help with watching the body. A body that was probably being targeted by some mysterious thief that wanted the chimeras' bodies for some reason. If Theo stood any hope of getting what he ultimately wanted, he was going to have to work fast and kick things up a notch, before it was too late.

As he paced, he felt a familiar tingle in his spine and he turned to glare at where the Surgeon had appeared.

"Checking up on me?" he asked the masked man.

"Courtney," he said in that distorted voice of his.

"What about her?" The Surgeon just stared and Theo then realized what was going to happen. "No, you can't do anything to her yet."

"Her condition reaches terminal."

"Yeah, I know but hold off for a bit, okay? I still could use her," he tried to argue but the Surgeon cut him off.

"Inconsequential," he simply said in response.

Theo could see that his mind was made up. When Courtney told him that she was bleeding mercury, he figured it was just a matter of time.

"Just a little longer. Two more days at least."

The Surgeon let his head drop a bit. "Termination."

"Fine," Theo sighed, knowing that he wasn't going to sway the guy. The Dread Doctor then looked to give Josh's body a side-glance. Theo looked too and couldn't help but feel that the doctor was silently scolding him. "You can't tell me that you're not interested to know who's taking the bodies?"

"Inconsequential," he repeated in his simple tone.

"Why? You don't care that someone's running off with your little failed science experiments?" The Surgeon just stared at him and Theo's eyes widened. "You already know who's taking them," he realized. He then glared at the Surgeon again. He had been here all night, trying to find out who was doing this and the Surgeon knew who it was, probably the whole time. "Did you forget that you were supposed to be keeping me in the loop on everything?!"

"Inconsequential," he repeated, not at all phased with the boy's rising temper.

"Not to me!"

But before anything else could be said, a car was approaching from outside. Theo turned to look off and he realized that it was Stiles. He turned to tell the Surgeon that he had to leave but he looked to find that the guy had already disappeared. As the clinic door opened, Theo made sure to ready himself as Stiles let himself in.

"What's going on?" Theo asked him as Stiles stepped passed him. Yet before Stiles could say something, he suddenly stopped and his eyes started to scan the area. Theo could see that Stiles must sense something had just happened, somehow. But he tried to maintain his composure. "Is something wrong?" he asked in the same tone.

Stiles took in what he was feeling as he stepped deeper into the clinic. There were fresh feelings of anxiousness, and anger about. And…something else that Stiles couldn't place. "Don't you think I should be asking you that?"

"What are you talking about?"

Stiles then moved to stare directly at him. "It's just, I thought I heard some yelling as I was pulling in."

' _Damn you Doctor_ ,' Theo thought to himself. The man had gotten him agitated and Stiles was trying to poke holes in everything relating to him right now. Theo moved to try and shrug it off. "Just felt kind of startled when I heard you coming. Being here, knowing that whoever is taking the bodies could show up at any time, it's got me a little jumpy."

"Right," Stiles slowly, clearly not buying it. He then moved over to the shelves in the office.

"What are you doing?"

"Look, whoever is taking the bodies probably isn't just going to show up if there are guys standing guard over one of them."

"So, what? You have a better plan?"

Stiles took that as his cue to pull out his phone and start up the camera as he went to put it into position. "Maybe."

Theo sighed as that was actually a good idea. One he wished he had thought of doing earlier himself. Soon, the two of them were sitting off in Stiles' jeep as he set up a small monitor to watch the body away from the clinic.

"What happens now?" he asked as Stiles settled back in his chair but had his eyes to the monitor.

"We wait," Stiles said, not taking his eyes off it.

"You want to take shifts watching?"

"No, no. I want to spend some quality time with you," he answered, sarcasm plainly evident in his tone.

But Theo just shook his head and shrugged it off. "Sounds good to me."

Stiles took a moment to roll his eyes at him before turning to look back at the image of the body on the monitor. "If you're bored with keeping watch then I can turn on the radio. I think the 49ers/Lions game is on right now."

But Theo shrugged. "No thanks, I don't really care for football."

Stiles' eyebrows rose a bit. "Really? That's funny. Your dad said that you love the Lions. Took you to a game last year."

It was for a moment, but Stiles saw a nervous jolt pass over Theo's face. But the guy moved to just smile and shake his head. "Yeah, well to be honest, I stopped liking football a while ago and got in skateboarding. I just hadn't told my dad because he's still a big fan."

But, Stiles moved his gaze away to not show that his eyes brightening a bit. He remembered Wilson's last bit of advice to him: Focus on the little things. Call him up on it as many times as possible and put on the spot they would never be able to keep track and slip up. Stiles was telling the truth. Mr. Raeken had told him that he took Theo to a game last year, but the guy said that he honestly preferred baseball over football. Theo's heart had been steady but Stiles now knew he had lied. It wasn't much, but it was a start.

Across the road, stood the Surgeon and he was regarding the jeep with interest. Stiles was showing progress though it was slow. He wondered if the key to success lied with using the boy as the base behind their subjects instead of the one they had tucked in the lab. His thoughts were soon interrupted when the Geneticist and Pathologist arrived.

"Zack, his condition worsens," the Pathologist said.

The Surgeon looked down at the sample of blood he collected back at the school that he still carried. "Perhaps its time to test it," he told them.

"But before that," said the Geneticist.

"Hayden," the Surgeon finished.

The three of them then turned and began to walk off.

* * *

A/N: I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving holiday. I was busy getting ready for mine so I didn't have much time for writing lately. Things are heating up now, and not just for our pack in Beacon Hills.

Also, I couldn't resist putting in an inside joke on Theo with this chapter. Him not liking football. Unless you watch All American, you won't get it.


	20. Strange Frequencies part 2

Chapter 19: Strange Frequencies part 2

Cora opened her door and Ruben walked in, gladly though awkwardly. He had his hands stuffed in his pockets as he stepped in while Cora closed the door behind him. His eyes went about as he took their condo in. They slowly strolled into the living room where her books were still open on the table in front of the sofa. The baby and her carrier she had already moved off back to his room.

"Glad you decided to let me in," he said softly as he stopped in their kitchen.

"Yeah, well," she trailed off. Cora could sense that Ruben was a bit nervous. To be honest, she was a little nervous too. It wasn't like this was her first time alone with a boy, but it was the first time that she'd been in this…situation. As cliché as it was, having a boy over to help with homework, she had never done that before. "Uh, would you like something to drink?" she decided to ask.

"Yeah, just some water."

"Okay, just make yourself at home."

Ruben went and sat down and started to absentmindedly drum his fingers on his laps as his eyes wandered around. "You've got a nice place here," he said out to her.

"Thanks." She then came back with a bottle of water. I'm sure it's not as nice as yours. You live out by Flushing Meadows, right?"

Flushing Meadows was a small suburban house district. Most of the richest families in the area lived there

"Yeah," Ruben nodded. "But, I hope you don't hold that against me. To be honest, I can't stand most of my neighbors. Nothing but self-absorbed jackasses."

Cora let a small giggle escape. "Oh, I'll bet."

The two of them then settled in and Ruben began to help her get through the hard parts of the assignment. Cora found that she might just finish the paper by the end of the night. After about a half hour, Ruben was letting himself lean back into the sofa, getting more comfortable.

"So, you said you lived with your brother? Where is he?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, he's out with a friend tonight."

"A friend? Or a _friend_?" he asked pointedly.

"To be honest, I don't think even he knows." She let a small smile creep in. "But, I hope he ends up spending the night."

"Are you trying to play matchmaker for your brother?"

Cora rolled her eyes. "No, but I've seen him do worse. With this one, he honestly couldn't do better. And I really like her too. I would like to see her around more."

He straightened himself up a bit. "Yeah? And…is she the only one you'd like around more?"

She looked towards him and they just stared at each other. It could've been for a few seconds or a few minutes, neither were sure. All they knew is that one moment, they were staring at each other and then were starting to lean in closer. But before they could get too close, there was a sudden bout of crying coming from upstairs that made them jolt apart.

"What's that?" asked Ruben.

* * *

Scott, Malia, her father Henry, Liam and Hayden were standing in the school parking lot and watched as Lydia's car began to pull in and she along with Parrish got out and immediately went over to the trunk to pull out the jammers that they had spent a good part of the day working on. Malia and her dad moved to eye the jammers.

Henry picked one up and turned it around in his hands. "These will work?"

"We hope so," answered Lydia. "We know that the Dread Doctors are able to move about on their own frequency, so this might help keep them away."

"At the very least, make it hard for them to stick around if they do come," Jordan threw in.

"We're really betting our lives on these?" Malia said as she fumbled around with one of them.

"I think we're betting Hayden's life on them," Lydia said uncomfortably.

"Yeah, well, I'm glad I brought my gun," said Jordan.

"Me too," Henry said pulling on the strap to his shotgun.

Since Henry had told Malia about what he saw from reading the Dread Doctors book, and she telling him about what she saw on the road, the two had been keeping closer tabs on each other than ever. Malia had confided in him about the plan to protect Hayden at the school and he insisted on coming along, not wanting to leave his girl alone, and hopefully find some more answers.

As the four began to take the jammers out of the car, Scott stood out in wait with Liam and Hayden.

"What are we waiting for?" Hayden asked, feeling nervous by all of the silence.

Scott suddenly smiled as he poked his chin out into the distance. "For them."

Hayden turned to look over to where there were over a half dozen people walking out of the darkness towards them. Two of them were Brett and his sister Lori while at the center stood Satomi.

"Heard you needed some help," Satomi said to them softly.

Soon enough, after heading inside the school, everyone split off to secure it. Lydia and Parrish moved off to set up the jammers in key locations while Satomi's betas split off to patrol the halls and set up a perimeter alongside Malia and her father. In the boys locker room, Hayden was sitting down at a bench, staring at her folded hands, while Liam, Brett and Lori were there to watch her.

Lori looked over at Liam talking in a hushed tone with her brother. She could feel the anxiousness coming off him. And, every other second, he threw a worried and concerned look Hayden's way. And there seemed to be something…softer as he looked at her as well. It made Lori's stomach begin churning a bit and she found herself walking over to Hayden.

"Hey," she said, making Hayden look up at her. "Try to relax. Being so worked up is not going to help."

Hayden sighed deeply before clearing her throat. "So, you and your brother, your werewolves too?" she asked awkwardly.

"Uh huh," she said simply with a nod.

"And how long were you…turned?"

"Our whole lives. My brother and I were born this way."

Hayden's eyes widened. "What? You're joking."

"Do you hear me laughing?" Lori asked sarcastically.

Hayden rolled her eyes. "Give me a break. Just yesterday I didn't think werewolves were even real. Now, I'm in school, surrounded by them. I didn't ask for this."

That made Lori's deflate a bit. "Yeah…" she mumbled off. Her head dropped a bit. It wasn't fair to be angry with Hayden. She didn't ask for any of this. Lori then moved to sit down next to her. "I'm sorry."

Hayden looked over and caught her eye. "Thanks. And, I'm sorry too."

"For what?"

"I've noticed you, especially around..." She trailed off, moving her gaze over to where Liam was standing with Brett.

Lori followed her vision and let her gaze fall on Liam too. "Oh, yeah."

"Are you two-?"

Lori shook her head. "Honestly, I don't know. I'd like to think we could be."

"With that hothead?" Hayden said, trying to jest.

Lori let out a small chuckle. "Yeah well, there's a lot more to him you'd think."

Hayden let out a deep sigh. "Yeah, I've actually started to figure that out." Her face then lightened a bit. "Though, he still seems as clueless as ever."

"Yeah, well he is a guy. They are always clueless, werewolf or not," Lori smiled.

And as she smiled, Hayden seemed to let herself smile herself. They then began to giggle with each other.

Liam looked over at Hayden again and found that Lori was now with her, and the two of them were starting to laugh a little together. He was tempted to listen in on them but a finger snapped in front of his face, making him blink away.

"Hey, you still there Casanova?" Brett said, pulling his hand back.

"Huh," he said snapping out of it. "Yeah, of course. What are you talking about?"

"Hayden. I thought you told me at the club that there was nothing there."

"There isn't." That just made Brett raise an eyebrow at him. "Well, I thought there wasn't. Then, well, all this happened to her and...I don't know," he trailed off.

Brett rolled his eyes. "Ever the dashing hero swooping in to rescue the damsel in distress. Just don't hurt my sister."

"I would never hurt her," Liam quickly told him.

"Yeah, well, it's clear you're going to have to hurt someone," he told him as he looked over at his sister and Hayden.

Liam let his own eyes fall back on the girls. Who said anyone had to get hurt? It wasn't like he and Hayden were going to become a thing after this. After all, he didn't like her like he liked Lori...right? Brett then pulled him out of his thoughts as they moved to begin blocking some of the doors into the locker room.

Satomi were roaming the halls, checking to see if everyone was ready and where they should be, when she stopped as she spotted Scott standing in an empty classroom.

Scott had been standing in the AP Biology classroom, knowing that he wouldn't be taking the class anymore. As he stood there, his mind went off to what he heard at the hospital the other night. Stiles was getting a full ride to Georgetown University, complete with both an academic and lacrosse scholarship. Scott thought it was great that Stiles has such an opportunity under his belt, but he still couldn't help but feel...resentful. With all of this going on, Scott couldn't find the time to handle all of this extra work, and yet Stiles now has a real opportunity to go to one of the finest schools in the country. Ever since their sophomore year, how is it that this werewolf stuff always seems to get in the way of _his_ life but not seem to hinder Stiles' at all? In spite of it all, Stiles is able to keep his grades high while he had to go to summer school to keep his own ones decent, twice. Scott couldn't help but think it all unfair.

"Scott?"

Scott was broken out of his stance to look at Satomi staring at him. "Uh, hey Satomi."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he said, before clearing his throat. "Just thinking about some stuff."

"Well, I thought you should know that I have my betas spread out at all the major ways leading to the locker room. We'll have this school locked up tight."

"Great," he sighed out. Scott couldn't help but feel some of the weight from all this lessen a bit. This just might actually work tonight. "Thank you for helping us do this."

"Yes well, my pack and I have our own personal stake in this business with the Dread Doctors."

He nodded. "Do you know anything more about them?"

She shook her head. "I know about as much as you do, I'm afraid."

"Well, hopefully they won't be able to get in here."

"But if they do, my pack and I are ready for them. This is personal for us."

"Because of Wilson? I know how much he meant to you and your pack."

Satomi let herself take a calming breath as the image of his smiling face came to her. "You know, he was the first beta I made after I turned to Buddhism. It was just under nine years ago when I first met him. He was just a kid living out on the streets back then. As he grew into his powers and into the pack, I felt he was becoming the perfect one to become my Second." Her expression then started to get a little ugly. "And now one or more of those Doctors' monstrosities have taken him away from us. If they do manage to show up, I will find out what happened to him."

"And then what?" he asked her hesitantly.

She let her eyes lock on to Scott's. "Then I'll do my duty as Wilson's Alpha. Just as the others will do their duty as Wilson's packmate."

Scott could read what Satomi was saying just fine. Whichever chimera or chimeras had killed Wilson, Satomi would return the action in turn. Get revenge. But Scott wouldn't have that. These chimeras were all victims. What was happening to them wasn't their fault. "Well, I don't think we have to take it that far," said Scott. "I'm sure there's another way."

"I'm sorry Scott. You've have yet to be an Alpha for a full year. I've been one for almost ten years. You wouldn't understand and I pray that you never have to. But I will tell you right now, one Alpha to another, that being one doesn't mean that everything you do will make you feel good and clean. Sometimes you will have to do things that make you feel horrid and filthy. And you have to prepare yourself for that. Still, you do what you feel you have to and I'll do what I feel I have to."

Scott left Satomi to head into the locker room to see that the others had blocked all ways save for one door and secured the room. Lydia was setting up the jammer and placing it in one of the lockers nearby.

"It's ready?" he asked her.

"Yeah, it is," she sighed as she left it there. Lydia then moved to pull Scott off to the side. "Is it me or is Liam not aware of the second part of the plan?"

"I'm still not sure if there's going to be a second part," he told her quietly.

"Or if it's going to work."

"What are you two talking about?" Liam suddenly asked, making him and Lydia look over at him. He had heard what the two of them just whispered. Liam then let his eyes fall on Scott's bag and he moved over for it.

"Liam, wait," Scott said after him.

But Liam didn't stop. He reached the bag and opened it to find it full with chains.

"What were you going to do with these?" he asked them.

Scott sighed. "I brought them just in case."

"In case of what?"

"In case we had a chance to catch one of them," Lydia answered for him.

"What?"

"If we can't make the school a fortress then maybe we can make it a trap," Scott moved to explain.

Liam then narrowed his eyes a bit. "They're coming for her," he said, nodding over at Hayden. "Does that mean that she's the bait?"

At that, Scott looked over to see Hayden staring horrified at him.

"Liam, we brought her here to protect her," Lydia tried to say calmly to him.

But it didn't calm him in the slightest. "And now she's bait," he all but spat out.

"Am I?" Hayden sputtered out.

"No one's bait," Scott quickly said to her before turning to Liam. "But we can't be bodyguards to everyone every night."

"Then why aren't we talking to Stiles' dad?" asked Liam. "Why aren't we doing something better than hiding in a school?"

Brett and Lori hung in the background, awkwardly watching Liam arguing with his Alpha.

"Because we still don't know anything about them or what they want, okay?" They're winning and we don't even know what the game is."

"And what if they come in here and those things don't work?" Liam asked, pointing off at the jammer set up in the room. "What if you have an asthma attack? What are we going to do?"

Scott's jaw tightened up a bit. "I don't know," he admitted.

Liam stiffened. "This plan sucks!"

Scott then narrowed his eyes at him. "You got a better one? Kids are dying and she's next! So, somebody has to do something. Somebody has to save everyone, so somebody has got to be the bait!" he roared at him.

Lydia, Brett and Lori looked at Scott in shock while Liam glared at him. Scott let himself deflate a bit. This was starting to weigh on him. He just didn't want any more death. Why couldn't anyone around him seem to understand that?

Liam let himself settle a bit though he was still a little heated. He told Hayden that she would be safe with him and his pack watching her. He needed her safe. He needed to keep his promise. "Scott," he finally said. "Promise me, you'll do everything you can to save her." Scott seemed hesitant for a moment. "Scott," he said more gently and desperately. "Promise."

Scott nodded. "I'll do everything I can. I promise."

* * *

It had almost been an hour since either Stiles or Theo said anything. Stiles was just staring at the camera, absentmindedly making circular patterns on the dash. Theo noticed and saw that Stiles seemed to be spinning his left index finger one way for a few rotations before he went and spun his finger in the opposite direction. His eyes narrowed. It looked like Stiles was making the same kind of pattern. A pattern he'd could've sworn he'd seen before. Theo pulled out his phone and started to cycle through his photos before he came to the one he took at the library. Of the desk that had spirals. An inverted double spiral getting scratched into it…by claws.

"Hey Stiles," he tried calling out. He looked over and saw him just looking straight on ahead at the clinic. Stiles acted like Theo hadn't just spoken. "What, are you just going to stare off and just try ignore me all night?"

"That was the hope," he muttered, still staring off ahead.

"You wanted to try talking earlier."

"Change of heart."

Theo shrugged it off and put the screen out in front of him. "Does this mean anything to you?"

Stiles let his eyes move to the screen. As soon as he saw what seemed to be some kind of double spiral, his finger froze as he blinked at it. He then cleared his throat. "No, why?"

"Because you've been scratching it on your dash for the last ten minutes."

Stiles leaned over and saw that there were faint scratches on the dash that seemed to be in the shape of that spiral. Stiles had seen this mark before. He had scratched it into a card that he left for the Calaveras early in the year.

"What does it mean?" Theo asked him.

"Where did you find that?" Stiles asked him.

"It had been scratched into one of the tables in the library. Did you do that?"

"Uh…I don't know."

"How long has this been going on?" Stiles didn't answer him. He just let his focus go back to the screen showing the clinic. After a few moments, Theo tried to talk to him again. "Are you still wondering why I haven't said anything to Scott?"

"Maybe," Stiles stiffly said.

"You think I have some kind of ulterior motive?"

"The thought crossed my mind."

Theo turned to look at him. "Would you believe me if I said that all I want, all I've ever wanted, is for you guys to trust me?"

"Nope," he answered, not bothering to look at him. He would never believe that about Theo. The guy was blackmailing him. People who want trust don't do that.

"So you're here because you're never going to trust me?"

"Yeah. Glad we cleared that up," he said, briefly looking over to smile at him before looking back at the surveillance screen.

Theo let himself just smile and deflate. "You know who you remind me of?"

"Don't know, and Theo, I really don't care," said Stiles as he rolled his eyes but kept them on the footage.

"My sister," he said as if Stiles hadn't said anything.

Stiles let himself look over at Theo to see the smile on his face as his mind went to his sister.

Theo continued. "Just like you, she was smarter than everyone. And she knew it, which made her a pain in the ass like you." That made Stiles roll his eyes, turning further away from him. "But, she always looked out for me. The same way you look out for Scott." That made Stiles give him a side glance before he looked back away. "You know, I was the one that found her body. She'd fallen into a creek, broken her leg. They told us she would've been okay if it wasn't one of the coldest nights of the year. If it wasn't for the hypothermia…and when I found her all I could think was that I should've known. That…I should've been looking for her."

Stiles couldn't resist the big heated and annoyed sigh at the end of all that. "Why are you telling me this?"

"I'm telling you this because even if you don't trust me, and even if you don't like me, I'm still going to be looking out for you…the way I should've been looking out for her."

Stiles let himself look away as he felt the showers of grief run off from Theo but it only made him narrow his eyes further in suspicion.

* * *

The hospital was quiet, at least quieter than it had been last night. Melissa was thankful for that as she didn't get too much sleep after that. For a while, her son had been going on about these so called 'Dread Doctors' but last night had been the first time she had seen one of them with her own eyes. You would think that after seeing a scaled Kanima hanging on a roof, a pack of mad Alphas, and Oni brandishing ninja swords, that she would feel ready to deal with anything by now. But, when she saw that…thing choking the life of her son in front of her, Melissa couldn't help but feel that these were the most frightening things yet. For what they looked like and what they were doing to so many people.

"Hey," a voice said, dragging her out of her deep thoughts.

She looked up and saw the Sheriff leaning on the other side of her desk. "Hey," she said back at him.

Noah gave her a knowing smile. "Deep in thought there huh?"

Melissa sighed. "Yeah, well…" She then blinked and shook herself out of it. "What brings you here?"

"A lead, hopefully. We still have some more chimeras out there."

"Yeah, Scott told me about Hayden."

"And about Josh too?"

Her face fell a bit. "Who?"

Noah quickly went and explained about how their boys had found another body of a chimera, the boy that currently was reported missing and was being watched by Stiles and Theo at this very moment.

"So, that's what happened to Stiles last night," she said when he was done. "You okay?"

"Hardly," he muttered a bit darkly. "This is getting out of control. Already, there have been at least seven of these chimeras, maybe eight if the kids are right about Donovan. And with the number of holes we found, there's still a handful of them left. And who knows if the Dread Doctors will have more on the way."

"But how can we find out who they are? It seems like their victims are being chosen at random."

"One thing I've learned in the last year, nothing's random." He then took out the Dread Doctors book to show to her. "This book, this is what I keep coming back to."

"But still no leads."

"Right, which started to make me wonder if I've been coming at it from the wrong direction."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the whole time I've been looking at this, I've just been thinking "science fiction". But these guys, they're not Dread Scientists. They're Dread _Doctors_."

Melissa started to see where the Sheriff was trying to go with this. "So, now you've looking for a medical connection."

"Or medical condition. Something that Tracy, Lucas, Donovan, Hayden, all of the chimeras could've had in common."

"You're not asking me to hand over medical files without a court order, are you?"

Noah's face fell back a bit. "Uh, I would never ask you to do that."

Melissa felt that if anybody had just seen him just now, they would've perfectly seen the resemblance between him and his son Stiles.

"Good," she said with a nod. "Because then they just might go and take away this key card, which allows me access to medical records." She then pulled the card out for him to see.

Noah barely was able to conceal the smile from breaking out of him and just nodded. "That is good."

"Do you want to see how the key card works?"

Now the smile broke its way free from him. "I would love to see how the key card works."

Melissa moved to see that no one was watching before she smiled back at him. "Follow me."

As they walked off to the Records room, the two of them couldn't help but humorously wonder. Is this where their sons got this sneaking around from, or had their sons started to rub off on them?

They got to the room and started to go through the file cabinets until they found the files for each one of the chimeras. Noah decided that the best place to look at each one of these would be at the station so they decided to pack them up and head straight there. Once they were in his office, they started to pour through the files, trying to match up anything that was the same for all of them. After over an hour, Melissa moved away to give her eyes a break. She found that the Sheriff had a poster tacked to his wall of the lunar cycle.

"You know there is a full moon coming."

"Yeah," he sighed. "I know." He turned to stand by her. "I keep track of them now. I went and put that there after I realized just how big the job has gotten."

The two took a moment to share a look of understanding. Full moons seem to hit them now on both in their work lives and in their family lives.

Melissa then turned back to see the photos that were hanging underneath it. One of those photos was of Donovan Donati. "You don't think he's still alive, do you?"

"I wish I could say yes."

"You wish?" she asked incredibly as she went to sit down. "Isn't this the kid that threatened to stab you?"

"Yeah, but he was just a kid." He then looked at the other photos. They were all just kids. "More than anything else, a victim of circumstance."

"Matt was a kid too," Melissa said, looking at him with a far off look. "And a victim of circumstance. Didn't stop him from killing all those people. Or shooting Scott right in front of us."

"No, it didn't," Noah sighed as he moved to sit on his desk. He wasn't trying to excuse Donovan, he just couldn't help but sympathize for the kid. For what he was going through now, or what happened to him in the past. "You know, the day his father was shot. Donovan, he jumped right on his motorcycle to get to him. He was hit by a car two blocks from the hospital. So, while his father was finding out that a bullet had severed his spine, Donovan was being wheeled into surgery for internal bleeding."

"Wait," she said suddenly. Melissa then opened up Donovan's file. "Didn't you say something about a skin graft?"

"Yeah, that…that was Tracy," he said as he moved to grab her file. "Deaton said that there was a graft on her shoulder."

"Donovan had one too," she pointed out.

A connection.

"And the others?" asked Noah.

They then moved to quickly check on the others. But Melissa started shaking her head when she got to Lucas' file.

"No, there's nothing. No skin grafts for Lucas."

"It can't be a coincidence." They were on to something. He could feel it. "What else is there?"

"Well, the only other thing I noticed was that he was born with congenital glaucoma. But that's nothing like a skin graft."

"Okay, well what do they do for that? The glaucoma? He take medication?"

"It says here they did a corneal transplant a few years ago. It's a fairly routine outpatient procedure. It was an allogenic transplant taken from a recently deceased donor." But then Melissa's eyes narrowed as she froze in thought.

"What?"

"Tracy's skin graft was allogenic. That means taken from individuals of the same species."

"So was Donovan's," he said, looking down at his file.

"Both skin grafts and the cornea were taken from outside donors," Melissa realized. "Donovan, Tracy and Lucas had two sets of DNA."

"Chimeras," Noah said, now seeing the connection.

"They were all genetic chimeras to begin with."

That was it. That was why the Dread Doctors took these people. They were after those who already had more than one set of DNA in their systems to use in their experiments. That meant anyone who had transplants, genetic infusions of any kind, were all in danger.

* * *

Lydia was heading for Hayden's locker. Hayden realized that she had left her pills so she volunteered to go and get them. It should be safe enough with Satomi's pack still out there so she headed off to retrieve them for her. She was nearly there when she spotted movement at the corner of her eye. As she moved to get a better look, her eyes widened when she saw who it was.

"Tracy?"

The chimera was standing there, alive and well. Standing on the top of some stairs.

"Lydia, thank god," she gasped. "I need your help."

Lydia moved up the stairs for her. "What do you need? What can I do?"

Tracy then smiled sinisterly at her. "I need you to scream."

She then grabbed at Lydia and moved to rip out her tongue. Lydia began spitting up blood but found herself incapable of screaming or making any kind of sound at all. She then found her legs giving out and she fell down the stairs. She was holding her mouth as blood kept pouring out from where her tongue was torn out. Yet, Lydia was really just laying on the ground, with seemingly nothing wrong, as three familiar figures stepped into the school and began to walk off, passed her.

* * *

Kira was laying in bed as her mother was softly injecting acupuncture needles one by one. As the needles went in, Kira found that she could barely feel it when the needles punctured her skin. Yet, she still felt an uneasy feeling fill her as she laid there.

"Is this really going to work?" Kira asked her mom.

"The balance of power inside you is in conflict, the struggle between the fox and the human.," Noshiko softly said after she injected the latest needle. "Perhaps this will shift the power back into your hands." Noshiko noticed that her daughter still looked troubled. "Are you in pain?"

"No," she quickly told her. "I'm fine."

Noshiko could easily tell that she wasn't. While it didn't look like Kira was in pain, it was clear that she was still bothered.

"Your friends will be okay Kira. Satomi contacted me and assured me that she and her pack will do whatever they can to help."

Kira let out a small sigh. "I know…I just-"

"Want to help," her mother finished for her. Kira went silent and Noshiko went and softly ran her hand affectionately over the back of her head. Her daughter was hiding her face but Noshiko could see the guilt weighing on her shoulders. "I know it's hard Kira, but, you can't help your friends if you don't help yourself first."

Kira then nodded before she let herself sink further into her bed so that her mother could continue. Yet, she still felt that unease bubbling inside of her.

Outside of the house, hiding in the brush, was Courtney. Theo was angry with her, and he wasn't responding to any of her calls since last night. She was afraid that he was about to just cut her loose and she couldn't have that. He was the only one who got her, and who could keep those three freaks in masks from coming near her again. She had to do something to get back in his good graces. Courtney knew that Theo was trying to get in this pack's good books. Well, what better way to do that than to be a comfort when their Alpha's girlfriend suddenly dies. As she glared at the window, she was unable to feel that her nose had started to leak out a silvery drop of mercury.

* * *

Jordan Parrish had once told Lydia that he only knew one magic trick that involved a playing card. It was with a Queen of Diamonds card. The face had a burnt smudge on it and Jordan flipped the card to reveal the smudge was gone and the face was back to normal. A face that looked a lot like Lydia's.

As he sat in his car watching the school, he noticed something on the floor and picked it up to reveal that it was the Queen of Diamonds card. He then looked over to see Lydia was sitting next to him. They stared at each other as Lydia began to move her hand across his arm affectionately. As she raised her hand to cup his cheek, the two of them found themselves moving closer. Soon enough, their lips meant into a kiss that deepened with every passing second. Lydia then moved to pull up Jordan's shirt and Jordan moved to take off Lydia's top. They kept making out until Jordan started to smell something burning. It took a moment before he realized that it was burnt flesh and he pulled away to see that Lydia's face was scorched. He was horrified by what was happening but Lydia had a crazed look on her face as she tried to pull him closer for more. Jordan tried to resist but she was proving to be too strong.

* * *

Noshiko went to check on Kira but found that her bed was empty. When she called for her husband, they looked to see that Kira had taken the needles and stabbed them into her bed frame. They made the numbers 115.

* * *

Two of Satomi's betas charged right in for where the three Dread Doctors were slowly waltzing down the hall. One of them was caught by the throat by the Geneticist while the other was backhanded by the Pathologist and sent flying back into the wall of lockers. The Geneticist held the other wolf for a while before he threw him off and slid down the floor until he hit the fall at the end of the hall. The Dread Doctors continued on slowly meeting up with more resistance from Satomi's pack. But it all did next to nothing in stopping their advance.

In another part of the school, Malia was patrolling the halls with her dad when her ears perked up as she heard the distant sound of a car revving up and leaving.

"What is it sweetie?" her dad asked, noticing the look on her face.

"It's Parrish. He's leaving."

"Leaving? Why?"

Yet, the next thing they knew, loud roars were echoing through the halls. The cries and howls of the other werewolves.

"It's them," she growled out before she started running.

"Malia, wait!" Henry cried out after her.

But Malia didn't slow or stop. She kept running until she entered the corridor where the noise had come from. She stopped and her eyes widened. The hall had the bodies of Satomi's pack scattered about. Some unconscious, others bleeding where they laid. Malia's blue eyes looked up and saw that the three Dread Doctors were up ahead and they were steadily heading right for her. She bared her teeth and brought out her claws as she made herself ready to go at them.

Yet, before she could make more than two steps, Malia felt a sharp pain in her leg. A metal jawed trap seemed to pop out from the floor and latch right onto Malia's left leg, making her cry out in agony and fall to the ground. When she fell, another trap popped up and closed its jaws on her right wrist. She began to scream louder until a blade went and pierced its way through her neck, silencing her. Malia was fidgeting on the ground as the Dread Doctors just moved right passed her.

Henry made it to the hall to see his daughter on the floor, writhing about as if she was having a seizure. His eyes then fell on the Dread Doctors. They looked just like the images on the cover of the book, only worse. It was if he was staring at three Steampunks, from Hell. He brought his shotgun out and pointed it towards the Dread Doctors and quickly let out a shot. It went for the Surgeon but simply ricocheted right off the front of his suit as if they were mere dust particles. It didn't slow them down. He moved and let out two more shots at the other two but it had just as much effect of them as with the Surgeon. They just kept walking forward.

Suddenly a hand went and grabbed his shoulder. It was Satomi.

"Stop, that won't work. I'll take them. You go to your daughter," she told him.

At that, Satomi moved to bring out her blade as she stomped forward at them. The three finally stopped moving and regarded her while Henry slipped around them and threw himself down to his daughter.

"Malia, are you okay?" he urgently said to her.

Her voice seemed caught in her throat and it looked like she could barely move, as if she was pinned down by something. Also, her eyes were filled with pain but Henry couldn't see any place where she had been injured. She wasn't even bleeding. To him, she seemed fine.

Satomi bared her teeth at them. "Was it you?" she growled. "Did you kill Wilson? Or was it one of your experiments? Did you let someone use them to do it? Which is it? Answer me!"

The three of them didn't answer her. They just stared and tilted their heads a bit, as if they were regarding her with some interest. Satomi could see that they weren't going to talk. She then took her blade and flung it for the one in the middle. The Surgeon quickly took his cane and deflected the blade away and made it harmlessly stab itself into the wall. The Pathologist then stepped forward and Satomi could read that he was choosing to be her opponent. She brought out her claws and roared as she charged for him. She quickly moved and clawed for him but the Pathologist ducked and darted away from every one of her strikes. Every claw and kick she threw, the Dread Doctor moved and avoided. Satomi then thrust herself right down his center and managed to get a solid hit in. The Pathologist fell back a step in recoil and looked down to see that there was a claw mark in one of its mechanisms.

Satomi took that moment to realize that the Dread Doctors weren't as invincible as they seem to think themselves to be. Yet, that was all the time the Surgeon needed to take his cane and throw it for Satomi. The bladed end jammed itself into her shoulder and stick out from the back. She moved to try and yank it out but the Pathologist stomped forward and grabbed her by the throat. The Geneticist then went to where Satomi's blade was jammed into the wall and yanked it out. He walked forward and the Pathologist lifted Satomi up, still holding her by the throat and thrust her into the wall. As her back hit it, the Geneticist then went and thrust the blade right into her other arm, pinning her into the wall. She let out a hard roar of pain as the two doctors stepped away to leave her hovering there. The Surgeon then stepped forward to face her.

" _You show promise_ ," he said to her, making her red eyes glare at him. " _But fall short_." With that, he pulls out his cane, making her scream out in more pain, before they move on and leave her there.

Back in the locker room, the others had heard the howls from the other werewolves and then the shots from Henry's gun.

"It's them," Liam growled. "They got in."

"Our pack, Satomi," Brett gasped. "They're out there."

"Let's go," Lori told him.

But before the two could leave, Scott held his hand out to stop them. "No, I'll go. You three stay here and protect Hayden."

With that, Scott left the locker room and started to move the halls to try and find them. The halls had gotten quiet and he couldn't see any sign of anyone, Satomi's pack, Lydia, Malia and her dad, or the Dread Doctors. That is until he began to faintly hear the sound of something around the corner. He stomped over and readied himself. He made the turn but didn't see anyone or anything except for what looked like a leather leash on the floor. And it was moving. Getting pulled into one of the classrooms, leaving a thin trail of blood behind. He quickly but carefully made his way inside and saw that it was the Biology lab again. The room seemed empty though. There was no one in there and the trail of blood seemed to disappear. As Scott took a better look inside he suddenly felt his chest tighten up as a sword went and came out through it. He looked down at the blade and quickly recognized it.

"Kira?" he gasped out.

As soon as he said that, the blade was pulled out from behind him and Scott felt his knees giving out. He fell to his knees and Kira revealed herself right before taking the leather leash and wrapping it around his neck, chocking him.

Kira's eyes glowed bright orange and she began speaking in a deep and distorted voice. "You know who I am."

"Kira," he tried speaking through the choking. "Kira…stop."

"I am the messenger of Death!" she said, in the same voice. Then she growled before tightening the hold on his throat.

The tighter grip made it even harder for Scott to breathe. And outside the room, the Dread Doctors walked right by. The Surgeon moved to give it a glance, where he saw Scott was actually just writhing on the ground, holding his throat, with no one else there.

Hayden was hiding off in a corner with Liam while Brett and Lori were watching the door intensively. Brett then turned over to the other and made a shushing sound.

"Someone's coming," whispered Lori.

"It's them, isn't it?" Hayden whispered out frightfully.

Liam looked at her before he moved to look over at Lori. He then stepped over and headed for the door. Brett moved to go with him but held his hand out for his sister to remain back with Hayden. The boys slowly made their way to the door where they could see the lights flickering from the other side of the window. The door then suddenly creaked open and the Geneticist was standing on the other side. Quickly Brett charged in first but the Dread Doctor intercepted and grabbed his wrist, squeezing it hard making the young werewolf howl in pain. Liam found himself stepping back in fear as the Pathologist and the Surgeon began stepping in the room after him. The Geneticist then went and took his other hand to grab at Brett's throat and lift him into the air. As Liam freaked, he then felt something brush passed him.

"Lori!" he cried out.

She had moved to try and help her brother but the Pathologist intercepted her. She tried throwing a punch at him but he effortlessly blocked three of them before he went and gave her a hard back hand across her face that sent her flying off into some lockers. Liam wanted to run for her but the Surgeon stepped forward and blocked his way. The Geneticist then went and threw Brett and he landed off next to his sister and seemed to have been knocked out. The Surgeon then took his cane and knocked off the cell jammer that was set up close by. It fell to the ground and he set his cane on top of it. Liam quickly moved to pull Hayden behind him.

" _We are on a frequency you can't possibly imagine_ ," the Surgeon told them in his distorted voice. He then raised his cane and thrust it down, smashing the jammer.

Hayden cried out as she held Liam who just glared at the three of them.

* * *

The jeep had been silent for about two hours after Stiles and Theo's initial talk. Stiles just kept his focus on the monitor while Theo let his mind wander off. Eventually he got tired and bored so he decided to try and strike up another conversation.

"You know…I saw his teeth. Donovan," Theo further explained when Stiles looked over at him. "He was a…Wendigo, wasn't he?"

"Yeah," Stiles nodded.

"That's the cannibal one, right?"

"Native American. The myth says that if you ate human flesh, your punishment was to turn into a creature that constantly craves it."

"That's a pretty judgmental myth."

"Well I didn't make it up. And besides, from what I saw, Donovan didn't just crave flesh, he was rabid for it. He seemed to live for the taste of it."

Theo nodded. "Okay, well, Donovan might've been an extreme case but what if there was no other choice. And eating human flesh was the only way to survive? I mean, you've heard of the Donner Party right? I'm pretty sure they didn't turn into Wendigos."

Yes, Stiles had heard of the Donner Party. Snow bound Pioneers that resorted to cannibalism to live. "Well they didn't live in Beacon Hills."

"Good point. So, what's the punishment for killing a chimera?"

"You spend five hours in a car with Theo Raeken." That made Theo chuckle a bit but Stiles rolled his eyes. "Look, I already know what my punishment is. I'm going to lose my best friend. I lose Scott." Though, if Stiles was honest with himself, he's felt like he was losing him for a while now. This would just be the straw that finally broke the camel's back.

Theo just shook his head. "Look, if Scott really gave up on you for some piece of crap like Donovan, then he wouldn't be a True Alpha, would he?"

"Or maybe that's the definition of one, someone who doesn't put up with murder."

"Really? Then how do you explain him putting up with the Argents? Or Peter Hale?"

"How do you know about that?" Stiles demanded. He was feeling like another gear was fitting out of place with this guy.

"I told you, these last two years, I've heard stories. And I've heard quite a lot of things about them. None of them good. The murder sprees they all went on, especially in this town. And yet Scott was still willing to give them all a chance, right? If he's willing to do that for them, why wouldn't he do that for you? His Second. His best friend."

Stiles tightened his jaw a bit. He found himself not saying anything about that.

Theo continued on. " Have you ever heard of justifiable homicide?"

"Did you seriously just say that to the son of a cop?" he spat at him.

"Look, a werewolf's eyes are supposed to change color when you take an innocent life, right?" Theo then flashed his golden yellow eyes. "These look blue to you?"

Stiles eyes narrowed at the sight of them. Theo's eyes weren't blue.

"It was self-defense," he continued. "For me and for you."

"Or maybe you just don't feel all that bad about it. You can't say that one life is objectively less innocent than another one. What if they turn blue because you feel guilty?"

"Speaking from personal experience? Is that what made yours go blue? Because you felt guilty? That would mean its up to interpretation."

"Interpretation?" Stiles eyebrows rose up at him.

"Yeah, and here's my interpretation of what happened with you and Donovan. Not guilty." Theo then looked away which made Stiles look back up to the camera. "Did you feel bad about it?" That made Stiles narrow his eyes at him. "Not now. I mean, right then. Right when it happened. What were you thinking the moment you knew he was dead and there was no saving him?"

Stiles let himself take a moment to think back to that night, when he looked upon Donovan's impaled body. After everything that had happened, from his threats to his promise to kill his father after he had been done with him. He remembered the feeling he had when he saw Donovan was gone. "One word…good."

As Stiles looked off, Theo couldn't help but let a small smirk plant itself on his face. But it was only for a moment as it quickly wiped itself away when he detected a strange scent permeating the air.

"Hey, do you smell that?" Theo asked, sniffing deeply.

Stiles narrowed his eyes as he took a hard whiff. "Yeah…smells like smoke."

Theo nodded. "Like something's burning."

Theo looked out the window and his eyes widened when a bright light came upon him just before a hard fiery fist collided with his face. Stiles looked just in time to get splattered by Theo's blood. Theo was then pulled out of the car and Stiles then found that his jeep was getting picked up and then tossed on its roof with him still inside.

Stiles was thrown somewhat out of the car as a pair of footsteps made their way over. Stiles was trying to blink himself to consciousness as his blue eyes glowed through his dimly opened eyes. There was a surge of intense heat all around him that was starting to effect him. Everything was blurred but Stiles could just make out two bright fiery orange eyes glowing and looking down at him. Stiles then blacked out and the figure stared at the motionless boy for another moment before he moved off to the animal clinic. As he moved, a fire started up in front of the jeep with Stiles still inside of it.

It kept going until Stiles was pulled free from it. As he felt himself getting yanked, he gave a start and grabbed at Theo's throat. Stiles blinked for a moment and then let go of him and Theo moved to cough and rub at his throat. The guy was still bleeding from his head from whatever had just attacked them.

Stiles looked over and saw the state of his jeep. "What the hell just happened?"

"The…the body," Theo coughed out.

"What?"

Theo then moved to clear his throat. "Josh's body. It's gone."

* * *

Over at Sinema, Cory was there trying to drown out all the things he was feeling with the lights and music from the club. Yet, he was huddled up in a corner with a drink, not feeling any better. He went and downed the rest of it as Mason slowly approached him.

"You okay?" he gently asked him.

He smiled at him and let the cup fall out of his hand. "Better than ever."

Cory then moved to go and give Mason a kiss but he stood back to stop him. Mason could see this was the last thing Cory needed right now.

"Hey man, it healed, didn't it? Your arms."

Mason then grabbed Cory's sleeves and pulled them up to show that the slashes from Lucas' stingers were all gone and the skin was smooth as if nothing had even happened. Cory's face then started to tremble.

"What's happening to me?" he asked Mason, almost desperately.

Mason sighed. "I think there's someone you need to talk to."

* * *

Kira moved off for the front door of the house, where the numbers 821 were etched into it to show the address. She went to get the spare key and she opened the door and casually walked in. As she got into the living room, she froze. Her eyes glowed a bright orange and she turned her head to look upon the Chimera Courtney. She smiled predatorily at her as some quicksilver was smudged at the edges of her lips. Courtney extended her hands to shift her nails into her foot long claws and clicked them menacingly. Kira moved to grab her belt and quickly extended it to become her sword. They stared at one another for a moment before they ran for each other.

* * *

Ruben sighed as he stepped inside his room and for once was appreciative that his parents weren't home. He went over to his mini fridge and pulled out a small soda and moved to start chugging it down.

Back at Cora's place, when he had heard the sound of crying, Cora quickly left and asked for him to wait for her to come back. But Ruben knew that he couldn't do that so he waited for a moment before slowly following after her. He then peeked into what seemed to be a nicely decorated nursery. There was wrapping paper that was decorated with stars and moons with a framed picture of what looked like a kids drawing of a ship at sea. At the end of the room he had found her there with the baby by the crib. Cora had nearly jumped when she noticed him standing in the doorway. She quickly explained that it looked like the boy just needed a change and quickly started to remove his diaper and replace it with a fresh one. As she did, the baby's crying started to settle and then turn to gurgling laughter as Cora tickled him a bit before she fastened the new one. Ruben couldn't help but smile at how cute the baby was being. Cora turned and noticed his smile and she seemed to settle down a bit.

"You can come closer if you want?" she had offered, in a small voice.

Ruben had found himself moving for the baby but the kid started fidgeting a bit when he laid eyes on him. It looked like he would start crying so he quickly backed off. The baby then started to settle when he was far enough and Cora moved to settle him back in his crib. Ruben waited for her back in the living room and she soon came over, looking a little awkward. Ruben then went and asked if he was her nephew or something but Cora shook her head and slowly admitted that Jason was her son. Ruben then nodded and told her that it was late and he had to get going. He then left without another word.

As the memory finished playing back for him, Ruben finished guzzling down his soda. While he knew that the baby was Cora's already, because Dean had told him, it was another thing to hear it from Cora herself. That baby was really Cora's son. He was there to help a girl with homework and she already had a kid. That's why he had freaked and just left her place like he did. Though, now that he was here in his room, he felt it was a good thing he reacted the way he had. After all, if he just brushed off something like that, after it had supposedly been "dropped" on him, then it might look suspicious. Maybe he could work from that? For now, he needed time to lay low and think of what he'll do next. But not too much time. The full moon was not too far away and he only had until then.

* * *

Hayden was helplessly laid out on the floor, surrounded by arcane tools and canisters filled with bubbling liquids. Over to the side was Liam. He appeared to be just as helpless as she was.

" _Hayden_."

She turned her head slightly and looked upon the three Dread Doctors, who were staring down at her.

* * *

Melissa had left the station and headed off for home. She wondered if she would see Scott later tonight or perhaps tomorrow if their plan to keep Hayden safe went okay. As she unlocked the door, she stumbled inside and her eyes widened at the scene. On the dinner table was a body, one of the chimeras with foot long claws, with Kira's sword jammed right into her heart.

Melissa then let out a hard scream.


	21. Ouroboros

Chapter 20: Ouroboros

A small caravan pulled up to an old nuclear plant that had walls plastered with dirtied warning signs on the rusted fences surrounding the place. From the look of it, the plant hadn't seen any real activity for decades. The caravan drove to the front entrance and a small group of men came out. One of them was Alan Deaton and he stared at the area with a determined look on his face.

It had been almost two weeks since he had left Beacon Hills to try to find any answer for what the Dread Doctors were doing and why. He reached out to some old contacts and sources for any information about them. It hadn't been easy as some knew next to nothing, and those that did, it seemed they were a somewhat taboo subject to even discuss out loud. His big break came when Maggie's druid mentor told him of a place where the Dread Doctors had last been rumored to have been. An old defunct nuclear plant, in Russia. The local news was that this plant's reactor had broken down and started leaking out nuclear radiation and made it too toxic and lethal to be there. Not as serious and damaging as the Chernobyl incident, at least, from what the official stories say. Yet, the Geiger counter he had with him was barely picking up more radiation than you would find around a microwave oven. As he started to venture inside the structure, Deaton was starting to wonder what the unofficial story was.

Deaton whipped out a flashlight as they started to head down into the plant's maintenance tunnel with one of the men, who seemed to be getting more nervous and anxious the deeper they went. He had a flashlight out to, along with an automatic rifle.

"You're quite tense. I take it you don't believe the official story about nuclear radiation."

"This is not a nuclear plant," the man said, getting more fidgety.

"Do you know what it is? Or what it was used for?"

"I know the rumors. Superstition."

They stopped when Deaton spotted a sign. It had a message spray painted over it but Deaton couldn't read it as it was in Russian. "What's it say?" he asked.

"They come, they come for all of us," the man translated.

"The men in the masks?"

"Yes." The man then moved to pull out a leather mask. "Like this."

They started walking on.

"What was the story?"

"They say they never took off the mask. Some people believed they had no faces underneath. But, they had a symbol. The snake that eats itself."

Deaton narrowed his eyes. That sounded eerily familiar. "The Ouroboros." He stopped and shone his flashlight up ahead when they came to a metal door. "Like that one."

On the door was a carved image of the serpent coiled around itself and devouring itself from its own tail. They then pulled the door open and found what seemed to be some kind of science lab. There were jars and instruments scattered around on a work table that were covered up in cob webs. On the opposite side were shelves that were crawling with bones and skulls, just as covered in cob webs. As Deaton stepped deeper into the lab, he found some more jars on a shelf that seemed to contain bodies of premature…infants swimming in green liquid. Deaton's companion started to shake a bit at the sight of them. Even Deaton, with everything he saw, felt a chill traveling up his spine.

"Failed experiments," Deaton gasped.

"On children?"

"Fetuses," he corrected. "These were done in the womb."

It seemed that an attempt had been made to develop chimeras back when their experimental subjects were still in development before birth. Though, it was safe to guess that none had succeeded. From this, Deaton could see that the Dread Doctors' experiments had gone far deeper than he realized, and were far more horrendous.

Further down the room, they spotted a small operating table where there was a skeleton of a small child, barely a year old or so. Next to it was a jar that contained something. Deaton took it and held it up to the light.

"Is that a claw?" his companion squeaked.

"No, it's a tooth. I think I found what I'm looking for."

"What is that?"

"An answer," Deaton said, starting to feel anxiety building up inside him. "We should leave here. We should leave now."

But, as his friend turned to do just that, a bullet went and found its way right into his chest and he collapsed onto the floor in a dead heap. Quickly, Deaton brought out his metal nightstick to get ready and defend himself.

"Easy Doctor, I know you have skills but I'm pretty sure I can shoot faster than you could hit."

Stepping into the light, carrying an automatic rifle, was a face he had only seen a few times but hadn't seen for roughly 16 years.

"You," he mumbled.

She smiled. "Hello, it's Alan, right? We never got to meet in person but I believe we have a mutual young acquaintance in common, one that likes probing into other people's business." That made him narrow his eyes at her. "You do know who I am, do you?"

"I know what you're called. The Desert Wolf. And, I know your name…Corrine."

That made her break into a smile.

* * *

Scott was running out through the trees as fast as he could, his eyes and ears peeled out for any sign. He ran deep into the woods, trying to find them, he had to. Yet, there was nothing in the woods to be seen or heard. No trace of Hayden, or Liam. Scott soon found himself on his familiar spot that outlooked down towards the town. He looked off at be beautiful view with a pained look on his face.

After Scott's asthma attack ran its course, he shot up to his feet when he quickly detected a heavy scent of blood flooding the air. He ran down the halls around and gasped as he caught the sight of Satomi pinned up to the wall by a small blade stuck through her shoulder. He quickly went up to her and yanked it out. Helping her move down the halls to the locker room. Once there, they found the place a mess with the jammers thrown callously to the floor. Scott heard groaning and quickly spotted Brett and Lori sitting up on the floor with pained looks on their faces. He then took a look around and saw that not only was Hayden missing, but Liam too.

"They took them."

That was what all Brett said when Satomi asked the siblings what had happened.

Scott started to stressfully yank at the back of his hair. Suddenly he started remembering everything his friends said about this plan. He heard Stiles doubts of keeping the Dread Doctors from getting into the school and his worries about everyone else when they did, Kira asking if the plan even worked then would they just keep hiding Hayden every night and Liam yelling at him about using Hayden as bait and then asking Scott to promise that he would do what he could to save her. He had tried to counter each one of them but they all had been right. The Dread Doctors had come into the school and gotten to Hayden with barely any trouble at all. Everyone had gotten hurt and Liam was gone too. He hadn't even been there to even _try_ to catch one of them.

A buck load of emotion began rushing at him all at once and Scott fell to his knees. Liam had put his faith in him, was counting on him and he failed him. He then went and let out a hard howl for his lost beta.

Malia was searching the woods too. It felt like she had been suffering under the grip of that claw trap for hours when she felt some slaps to her cheeks and began to hear her dad's voice, cracking in grief and worry. She then came out of it to see her dad's fearful face staring down at her. When she woke up, he quickly moved hug her in relief. She then saw that her leg was fine and realized that she had been hallucinating the whole thing. She quickly shook herself out of it and she and her dad went to try to find the others when they found Lydia on the floor. It seemed that she had been having her own hallucinating episode. Soon after, they learned that the doctors had taken not only Hayden, but Liam too. Lydia and her father had offered to stay behind to try and help Satomi and her pack while she and Scott went off to try and find Liam. Scott had quickly taken off for the woods and Malia went right in after him, following him for a while before he told them to split up. She couldn't find anything that told her that Liam or Hayden had been anywhere around this way though. Then, she suddenly heard Scott's howl and ran for it. She then came upon Scott, kneeling down and breathing hard.

"There's no scent, no tracks…no way to find them."

"But, Liam can howl back, right?" she asked. Liam had to have heard that. She was sure that Scott and Theo had heard the howl just now and known it came from Scott so Liam must've too.

He let his eyes fall back on the lights of the town. "Only if he heard me."

* * *

When Melissa had found the body in her dining room, she quickly went and called for the Sheriff to come over. She knew that the kids were all off with keeping Hayden safe so the Sheriff was the only one left who she could go to with this.

Noah got to the McCall house and saw that Melissa was standing outside the door, waiting for him. "Hey, I can't reach Scott and Stiles isn't picking up either," he said about to make his way into the house but Melissa stepped in his way. "I thought you said you uh, you had a situation?"

"Yes, but complicated," she said, completely anxious and tense. "If you come in, I need you to leave your badge at the door."

"Uh, literally or figuratively," he tried to joke.

"Both would be preferable," she said, not cracking a smile or relaxing a bit.

Noah's grin quickly flattened. It was clear that she was serious and could only guess something was really wrong.. "Melissa, uh, I've had to set my badge aside a few too many times in the last couple of weeks. Even a couple of times today."

"Well, you may need to do it a few more considering what our kids get into during their free time. So, do you want to come in or not?"

It was clear that she wasn't going to proceed unless he did what she asked so he went and took his badge off and pocketed it. With that, she fully opened the door and showed him in. Quickly, he spotted the body laid out on the table just ahead. One of a young girl with needle like claws on her fingers and a samurai sword stuck in her chest.

"Has anybody seen Kira tonight?" he asked as he began circling the table, his eyes locked on the sword.

"You don't think she did this, do you? Couldn't this have something to do with Scott? Some kind of message being sent?"

Noah gave Melissa a look. From the sound of it, she didn't even believe what she was saying. They both knew who had done this. He looked away from her and Melissa let herself turn away to avoid staring more at the body.

Knowing what he had to do, Noah went for his radio. "Dispatch, this is Sheriff Stilinski. I got a 1-8-7 at 821 Williamson Road. Notify Beacon Hills Memorial."

As soon as his message was done, he was given a hard slap to the face from Melissa. She looked at him with a pissed off gleam in her eye. The man had promised her that he would leave his badge at the door and he went right on ahead and pulled it back out right in front of her not even a minute later.

Noah just let himself reel back from that and moved to stare, calmly, back at her. He would let her have that because he understood where she was coming from but he had to make her understand where he was coming form, so he started speaking calmly back to her. "There's a dead girl in your kitchen with a sword sticking out of her chest. What did you think I was going to do?"

"You know it wasn't Kira's fault."

Not her fault? At that, Noah lost his cool and was through trying to be calm. "This is murder!" he spat out, pointing at the girl's corpse. "This kid, this child, has a family. What, am I supposed to just cover that up?! This is a crime and it's my responsibility to handle that, within the parameters of the law."

Melissa knew that whatever the truth was of what happened here, it was far from simple. Especially considering that the _child_ he was trying to throw at her, had claws on her fingers that were almost as long as their forearms. "What about our kids? They constantly deal with things outside the law."

His jaw hardened a bit but he remained resolute. "But not above the law."

"It's not that simple," she argued. "You know that."

The sounds of sirens could soon be heard and the Sheriff moved to stick his badge back on. He gave her one last look before he moved to go outside to explain everything and show them in. Melissa watched after him for a moment before she moved to her purse and pulled out her phone.

* * *

Stiles blinked as he tried to push down the pain from what had happened. He looked over and saw that Theo had a bloody gash on the side of his head and was staring at him. Stiles then started wiping at his face trying to clean the blood that still was splattered there. It was Theo's blood so he was eager to try and not have it on him.

"You alright?" Theo asked him.

Stiles didn't answer. He turned and looked around to see that there were small pockets of fire spread about as some weeds and stray pieces of trash were still burning about.

"Did you get a look at them?" he gasped out at him.

Theo shook his head. "No. All I saw was a bright flash before everything went dark." He then moved to wipe some blood dripping down to his cheek. "What about you? See anything?"

Stiles let his mind go back to what had happened. The smell of burning smoke, his face getting splattered with blood, his jeep flipping with him in it. And…after that everything seemed like a blur. "No," he muttered, giving his head a shake.

Stiles then dived down to the floor and began reaching into the capsized jeep for the monitor. As he pulled it out, his face dropped when he saw that it had been smashed. He then ran into the clinic, and quickly caught the odor of burnt ash and smoke drifting through the air. On the floor, there were dark ashen footprints and they led right to the table where Josh's body had been taken off from.

' _Who or what did this?_ ' Stiles thought to himself.

Theo had come in after him. His own senses took note of the room and he more than ever wanted to wring the Surgeon for not giving him any clue or warning about who or what was taking the bodies.

"I already told you, the body is gone," he said.

"Yes, I can see that. Thank you," Stiles slurred out as he directed his eyes off to the shelf. He then stomped over to it and let off a sigh of relief when he saw that his phone was still there, and looked untouched.

"What are you doing?" Theo asked.

Stiles decided to ignore him as he checked and saw that his phone was still recording what was happening. He quickly started to roll back the footage to get back to the time of the break-in. He had to know who did this. They were able to flip his jeep and leave a trail of fire in their wake. Stiles got to the right time and began to play the footage. Theo moved to watch it over his shoulder and their eyes widened as they saw a bright, red orange colored blur come in and cover the screen. It stayed there for a moment before it moved away and as the picture dimmed, they saw that the body was gone from the table.

Theo was aggravated. "Well, that was a help," he huffed as he started to pace a bit.

Again, Stiles ignored him. He rewound and played the footage again but paused it when the blur came in. He squinted his eyes as he thought he could make out what looked like an outline in the center. A bright outline, of a man. His mind then flashed to after the jeep had been flipped. Something was coming back to him. A bright fiery blur, and two eyes glowing brightly down at him and feeling a rush of scorching heat coming at him before everything went dark.

It had to be the body snatcher. But who was it? And what was it? It couldn't be another kitsune. The eyes seemed different than Kira's and even when her aura flared, and at her worst she didn't make things burn around her. Shock definitely, but not burn. And whoever it was that was doing this, why were they doing it?

"So, what now?" Theo asked, breaking up Stiles' thoughts.

He pocketed his phone and stressfully rubbed at his face. "C'mon," he grunted before he stomped out of the clinic.

Stiles limbered himself up a bit before he stood at the side of his flipped jeep with Theo three feet from him.

"Okay, lift on the count of three" Stiles grunted out as he bent down to get a grip.

"Ugh, why are we doing this?" Theo asked still standing firm. "Why not just call a tow and let them handle it?"

"Because I don't want to have to spend an hour trying to explain why my car was flipped upside down in an empty lot." _'Not to mention risk the garage trying to hustle me again,'_ he thought bitterly as he remembered the last time his jeep was left to a mechanic. "Now shut up and help me lift," Stiles grunted out at him.

"Okay, okay," Theo surrendered, as he moved to bend down and get a good grip on the jeep's bottom.

"And be careful." His jeep had been through more than enough. "Alright, one, two, three."

At three, both of them went to lift and the jeep creaked as it slowly began to rise up from the ground. The two werewolves grunted before the jeep's metal body creaked when it started to slowly lift up off the ground. As it rose up higher it started groaning under the strain. Stiles' blue eyes and Theo's gold eyes were in full glow as they got it up to their kneecaps. Theo groaned along with the car, even stressfully revealing his fangs but Stiles was calm as he tried to carefully set his jeep right. When the car was lifted high enough, they then began to tip it until it's two left wheels hit the ground and then pushed until the jeep got upright with a slightly hard thump.

As soon as the wheels were firmly on the ground, Theo let his back lean onto the jeep and slide down to the floor in a tired huff. As for Stiles, he let his eyes scan the jeep to see how much damage had been done. He saw that there were a few dents and small scratchers scattered all around. Stiles let his forehead fall and rest against the back door window. His jeep was coming more and more apart at the seams. Like everything else was around here. He let out a heated sigh as heat rose up in his forehead. He had just spent the night, barely tolerating being in the same air space with Theo for hours, and it had gotten them nowhere. And he couldn't reach Scott, Malia or any of the others at the school to let them know what happened or even check up on how things were going with them. As his thoughts went to them a pit seemed to form in his stomach. He couldn't help but feel that they weren't fairing any better…or were worse than him right now. His breathing intensified as the stress of the night and everything else was rushing at him. A vicious heat and pounding started rising up in his head. Stiles crunched his face as he pushed his head harder into the glass and moved his hand to apply pressure to his temple. It rose so high that he went and even put some wolf strength behind it and his claws started coming out and scratching into his scalp. Stiles hissed in pain and backed away to look at the tips of claws in his right hand stained with some blood. He sighed but then gasped when his eyes rose back up to the window.

Theo had heard the gasp and shot up to his feet to see Stiles moving back a few steps, staring out in shock. "What is it?"

Stiles blinked over at Theo's direction before he looked back at the glass. He saw nothing there but his reflection staring back. "Nothing," he said, clearing his throat. "Just a headache."

He then started to pace as he tried to settle himself and gather his thoughts. After a few seconds, his breathing began to ease and the heat and pounding in his head slowly settled down. As he calmed down, Stiles moved and looked back at the window to stare at his still normal reflection. He then wiped some sweat, and blood, from the side of his head. What he had just saw, in the window, it couldn't be. Could it?

Hearing the uptick in his heart, and smelling a small dose of fear and anxiety coming off him, Theo knew that Stiles had lied to him. But, he couldn't see about what. He watched Stiles as he started to pace off a bit, seeming to try and calm and settle himself down. Something was clearly heavy on his mind. Something intense. He then moved to pull out his phone and look at the photo of the strange spiral scratches he found. The one that matched what Stiles had been scratching in his jeep. He bet whatever seemed up with him had something to do with this symbol.

"So…what now?" he sighed after he felt was long enough.

Stiles shook his head to try and shake himself back into focus. "No, he won't call. He can't, not with those jammers they have set up to try and protect Hayden. We've gotta get to the school, right now."

Theo blinked. The school, where not only were Scott and his pack where but Satomi and her pack. He couldn't risk that. Earlier today, Scott had called him to go over what he and his friends planned to do with Satomi's pack. During that he mentioned to Theo about Stiles telling him that Satomi and her betas had felt something when Wilson Grant was killed. Add in the fact that Courtney was discovered and Satomi told Stiles that she sensed she was involved. Theo had heard many things about different kinds of bonds had in werewolf packs and Wilson had been that pack's Second. He heard some things about Seconds and their impact on pack members, things which seemed to hold real weight considering what happened when Courtney's cover was blown. Yet she was indirectly responsible. As the one that actually made the death blow, he had to avoid Satomi and any member of her pack, at least until he could finish what he had to do. But, how was he supposed to get out of heading there without arousing even more suspicion from Stiles?

Stiles threw himself into his jeep and went for his keys. He sent out a silent prayer and his jeep squeaked out a bit before softly coming to life after three tries.

"Yes," he sighed out in relief.

The police radio in the jeep fired up and Stiles recognized his dad's voice speaking. His eyes widened when he heard code was spoken, and the address.

Seeing Stiles' reaction, Theo quickly asked, "What's a 1-8-7?"

"Homicide," he answered. Before anything else could be done or said, Stiles felt his phone vibrate on him and he pulled it out to see that it was Scott's mom. Knowing that it had something to do with what he just heard, he quickly answered her call. "Melissa?" he quickly answered.

Theo stared at Stiles as his eyes started to widen as he listened to Scott's mom start to talk to him. "What's going on?" he asked after a moment.

It wasn't Stiles who answered him then. But the echo of a howl.

"Scott," they both muttered together as they stared off.

Stiles kept staring off for a moment before blinking and going back to listen to Scott's mom and his eyes soon widened.

Theo let a small smirk loose behind his back. It seems as if things might still play out well for him yet.

* * *

Thankfully, it hadn't been a busy night tonight so Virgil's boss wasn't asking him to pull an extended late night shift. Currently, the garage was empty of vehicles needing repairs or maintenance and there had been no road or car accidents reported in that night so the boss was closing up. Unluckily, for Virgil at least, his boss told him to stay and close up the but let his fellow night mechanic before he too left. So now, Virgil was handling it all by himself. As he did, Virgil couldn't help but think he saw some kind of spiteful twinkle in his boss' eye as he left him there.

It took him a little over half an hour before Virgil took care of everything on the closing checklist before he started getting ready to go himself. As he opened his locker, his eyes flew to his pouch where he kept his grandmother's deck. He stared at it for a few ticks before he shrugged.

"What the hell?" he sighed.

Virgil decided it was time for a reading. A special kind that his grandmother showed it to him once. Drastic perhaps, and maybe a little paranoid, but not for the first time he felt that his boss had an axe to grind with him. A personal one. He went out to the halls and yanked out a small self portrait of his boss that was hanging by his office. He then took his deck and moved to kneel in the center of the locker room. He placed his boss' picture flat and then started shuffling the deck. He then moved and placed a card directly below it, face down. He then put one directly in front of him.

"Soul cards," he mumbled to himself.

The cards that identify who people are at their core.

Then went and drew two more cards and put them directly below his boss' soul card, both face down as well. Then drew two more cards and put them above his. The layout was set.

"Alright, here goes." He then moved to flip his boss' soul card first. "Four of Pentacles. Big surprise," he sarcastically muttered, rolling his eyes. "Stubborn, greedy and an obsessive bastard. Yeah, that's him alright."

Virgil then moved to flip his soul card. He sighed as it came up. The Knight of Pentacles. Reversed.

"Sorry gran," he muttered to himself. He dwelled on it for a moment before moving on.

The two cards below his boss' soul card were what he was truly driven to see. The one to the left would tell him what his boss felt towards him and the one to the right would tell him where it could potentially lead him. Same as the two cards above Virgil's own soul card for him but he had no interest in flipping them. As silly and kind of crazy a part of him still kind of thought when it came to his grandma and her cards, what really did his life have left but craziness?

He then shook his head and flipped the left card to reveal what it was. "The Five of Swords," he muttered.

He gasped because as soon as he finished reading the card's name aloud, he suddenly heard what sounded like an echo of a woman screaming as well as the bang from a gun. And saw them, for a split second. It was so sudden and unexpected that he dropped the cards and quickly rose up to his feet, slightly panting but relaxed as there was nothing wrong around him. He then shook his head and started gathering the cards up without another thought. He was starting to scare and freak himself out. It was a long night, he was tired, he should just go home.

He left from the garage's front door before locking it and headed off for his parked bike. The area was so empty and silent that every step he took on the concrete was louder than usual. The rustling of the trees against the wind from the woods across the street also seemed louder and seemed to make Virgil uncomfortable so he sped his pace. He hopped right onto his bike and quickly threw his helmet on. But before he could start his engine, he froze when he heard a distant but clear howl in the air. It sounded like a…wolf. He shook his head and started his engine before he revved it on up and sped on down the road to get out of there.

* * *

Melissa was standing out on her porch, fuming at everything that had happened. She still couldn't believe that Noah had gone on and just called for Kira's arrest the way he did. They knew what was happening around here was far from simple. Scott was going to be so devastated when he found out, as well as the rest of their friends, on top of everything else they were dealing with right now. Before she could keep dwelling on it, a pair of headlights were shining on her. She lifted her gaze to see a familiar jeep pulling into the driveway, and a familiar teen climbing out of it.

"Stiles," she sighed out as she headed for him. "Thank you for coming so fast." She froze when she took in his appearance. There was still a bit of dried blood on him and some parts of his shirt had tears in it. She also looked over to see that Stiles' jeep had dents spread "What happened?"

"Things got a little…complicated at the clinic."

Stiles then quickly gave a short recap of what had happened.

"Where's Theo?" she asked him.

He rolled his eyes. "Said that he had to go home and check with his parents. Where's my dad?" he quickly asked.

She shook her head. "He left almost ten minutes ago. He didn't want to wait. And he had the body taken away."

Stiles didn't need his super senses to see that Scott's mom was upset with his dad. Melissa quickly took him inside and brought him to look at where the body had been found. He quickly found traces of mercury mixed with blood. He also noticed that there were some things knocked over here and there and saw that there were some deep claw marks on a few places in the floor and walls.

"Must've been some fight," he mumbled before he went to run his fingers over one he saw on a wall in the living room.

Suddenly, Stiles' eyes widened when he saw the image of a crazed girl with a vicious look on her face dive for Kira. She had her sword out and jumped away just a moment before she swiped with her claws and hit the wall instead. The chimera then turned to try and go for Kira again but she was charging at her as well.

He then gasped as he felt himself brought out of it and started stumbling back two or three steps. "Yeah, it sure was," he choked out as he quickly nodded.

"Stiles?"

"I…I saw it." He just had tapped into a memory scar. Left behind by this chimera's intense rage, bloodlust and…desperation? Not strong enough to see the whole event, but strong enough to leave something for him to see.

"You saw it? What do you mean saw it?"

"I mean I saw what happened, well just a glimpse. A moment before and after that was left there. Kira was here and she had her sword out, but she jumped out of the way as that chimera tried to claw her face off. Then they went for each other."

"So, you're saying that Kira definitely had no choice, right?" she asked, almost eagerly.

Stiles sighed. "I'm saying that if this chimera is the one Satomi told me about, then she didn't come here hoping to have a friendly chat with you or Scott. Kira must've came by and found her lying in wait here and…she did what she felt she had to do," he said calmly, after taking a deep breath.

Melissa nodded and moved her hand to stressfully hold up her forehead. "Well, you should tell that to your father."

"It's been a long day for him," Stiles said, quickly moving to defend his father. After all, he knew that he was still reeling from when he told him about Josh and what they did with his body. "For all of us."

She let both her gaze and head drop a bit. "I know," she said, at the floor.

Melissa saw Stiles seemed to be getting quite upset and she moved up to him and pulled him into a hard hug. One that he found himself returning in full barely a second in. Neither were sure how long they had hugged, a moment or an hour, but it still felt too soon when they separated. Melissa took note of how there was still some dried blood and dirt on him and she moved to get a damp paper towel and help clean him up.

Stiles let her do it for a moment before he cleared his throat. "Uh okay, call Scott and tell him what happened. I'll head to the station and try do what I can to help Kira," he told her.

She nodded. "Thank you, Stiles."

He then narrowed his eyes as a thought came to him. "And, I hate to ask this now, but I'm wondering if there's something you could do to help me, maybe when you get the chance."

"Uh, yeah, anything," she nodded as she looked at him curiously.

* * *

Jordan came to suddenly and found himself sitting in his bathroom, underneath a running shower, apparently just staring off into space. He blinked as he tried to remember how he had got there. The last thing he remembered…he had been in his car outside of the school, waiting and keeping watch for the Dread Doctors. How did he get back home? He stood up to turn the shower off, oblivious to the small traces of black soot on random parts of his body. He stepped out and grabbed for his towel as he looked at the small clock he had hanging on his wall to see that it was quite late. He realized that he had to call Lydia.

But before he could, his phone started ringing. Thinking it was Lydia, he moved over for it but saw that it was Clark instead. He answered it and was quickly bombarded with Clark's bossy tone.

"Where the hell are you?" she asked.

"Home. It's 4:00 in the morning," he said, in a tone that suggested that it should be obvious.

"Stilinski's calling everyone in. There's another body."

Jordan's eyes widened. If Stilinski was doing that there could only be one reason behind it. "You mean another murder." _'Another chimera,'_ he added, mentally.

* * *

The forest was silent and lightly misty as Liam trekked blindly through it. He had no idea where he was going as he made his way through the trees. He let his eyes go up to the night sky where a bright full moon was shining overhead. To Liam it seemed brighter, and bigger than usual. His ears twitched when he heard some growling echoing through the trees. He moved, carefully, for where it was coming from and came upon a clearing that had quite a sight.

Two wolves, one black and the other a deep brown, were looking at each other, and they seemed kind of stand-offish. The black wolf's fur was shaggy, and its eyes shown bright red as it was lowly growling at the smaller brown wolf. This wolf had blue eyes and its hair was a bit more spiked in a few places. Yet, Liam could see that while it wasn't as big as the other one, the claws and fangs on this wolf were bigger and sharper than the ones on the black one, making it somewhat scarier. They both were glaring and lowly growling as they looked at one another. Liam was thankful he wasn't between them as it seemed that they were just one hair away from going at each other. His eyes then looked off to the side to see the Nemeton and they widened when they saw what was standing on it. It was the wolf he had dreamed of before. The one that seemed to have been made by sowing parts of other wolves together and it was staring at the two other wolves with a hungry look in its golden eyes. Eyes that then moved to stare at him.

The next moment, Liam gasped and found that he was now lying on the floor. He was feeling groggy and he opened his eyes to see that everything around him was blurry. He blinked through his daze and moved tried to rub at his eyes but found that his wrists were restrained. He shook at his head and blinked his eyes harder until his sight was clear enough to see that there were some kind of manacles binding his wrists. He then let himself remember everything that had happened. He, his friends and Satomi's pack had tried to protect Hayden but couldn't stop them from taking her and him with them. He suddenly sobered up and tried to search for Hayden and quickly spotted an operating table just up ahead, at the opposite side of the room. Liam could make out a body restrained onto it with two of the Dread Doctors nearby. He lifted himself slightly, afraid what they were doing to Hayden and tried to scream for her but found that he couldn't. He felt too weak. In fact, the adrenaline he had just gotten from this moment of fear ran its course and he felt himself shrinking back to the ground. He felt so helpless there, only able to watch what they were about to do to Hayden.

But then, there was a slam as a body was dropped down right next to him. It was Hayden. The third Dread Doctor that was carrying her then stomped off to join the others at the operating table, leaving the two teens there. Liam moved to pull himself closer to her.

"Hayden, you okay?" he whispered desperately to her.

As he pulled himself to her, he noticed that her whole body was covered in sweat and there was a pained look on her face as she was breathing hard and quick.

"It hurts," she hissed out.

They then looked down to see that there was a deep cut at her side. There was dried blood all around it, dried black blood. Hayden moved to touch it and she gasped out as a fresh wave on intense pain hit her.

Liam reached out to her. "Give me your hand." Hayden moved to put her hand over to him and Liam quickly got a firm grip on it. "There's more to being a werewolf than having teeth and claws. We can also take away the pain. I've seen Scott do it once. I've never done it before but I can try. Stiles told me all about how it works."

"Okay," she said, with a pained nod.

Liam began to focus. Focus on wanting to take the pain that Hayden was feeling and draw it away from her and into himself. Stiles told him that he would begin to feel a sting coming up from his fingers that became a tight pain when it went up his hand but it would only be for a moment. His hold on her hand tightened but Liam couldn't feel any difference at all. No stings or sharp pains that told him he was taking anything from Hayden. After a moment he huffed and let her hand go.

"I'm sorry," he muttered.

Why hadn't it worked? Was it because he was too weak right now to even sit up?

"It's okay," she cried out to him. "Why are they doing this to us?"

"I don't know."

Liam then let his head roll off and he began to stare off at the ceiling. He started breathing harder as he felt that he had just run a marathon. What were they doing to them? But before he could wonder about that, another quick thought came to him. If Hayden was here with him, then who was on the table?

The Pathologist had come back from dumping Hayden's body down to start preparing the syringe device while the Geneticist working at a vector chemistry station nearby. The Surgeon moved to be right over the face of their latest subject. A 19 year old boy named Zach, that was completely restrained, but the opposite way. The front of his body was against the table with his back facing outward. His face turned to the right and there was a strap of leather tied at the back of his neck to keep him from moving. Yet, his eyes were wide open and were staring out with great fear. They widened when he made out the Surgeon standing over him.

The Surgeon moved his gloved hand over his back. " _Zach, your condition worsens_ ," he told down to the boy in his distorted voice. He then reached for his belt and removed the tiny vial that had the blood he collected from the school. He held it up to look at it. " _Yet, may be treatable_."

He then handed it to the Geneticist who poured it into a bigger vial and then inserted it at the final spot of the chemistry set before moving to begin the experiment. Opening the first valve red drops from an upside flask started flowing into a beaker filled with a yellow solution, blending together under a hot flame. The contents of the beaker quickly began turning orange before they started flowing up into tubes for another beaker that had a flask with a green solution and turning it black before the new solution started flowing down another tube. This process kept going for three more compounds until, eventually, it all ended up in a final vial where the blood waiting. Instantly the vial became filled to the top, making the final result a metallic gray solution. The Geneticist then took the final vial and handed it to the Pathologist who then loaded it into the syringe device he had ready. After it snapped in place, he then handed it over to the Surgeon and he moved for Zach. He then moved to slowly stick the needle of it into the boy's back and pull on the pump trigger. Zach let out a faint whimper and swiftly shut his eyes as he felt pain burning all through him. Sweat was oozing from his pores and he then opened his eyes to reveal a faint golden glow passing through them before he fell unconscious.

* * *

Noah had gone with the body to the hospital where he made sure that it was placed in the morgue. The coroner informed him that he would start working right away for an identification though was quite puzzled with the appearance of the long claws on the girl's fingers. He pulled the man aside and asked that he not spread that fact around until they were sure what it was they were dealing with. Well, it was a form of asking, leaning towards threat. The coroner seemed to get the message and quickly promised that he wouldn't say anything. He then ordered that there be a guard posted near the morgue around the clock. He didn't want to take the chance that this body was taken away like the others.

At that, he wondered how Stiles was doing. If he knew his son as well as he thought, then he knew that Stiles would've heard him calling in dispatch from the radio in his jeep. He better prepare for the impending confrontation he was sure to have about this. But, before he could leave the hospital, he got a call from Deputy Clark. She had found Kira wandering around Route 115 and had brought her in. When he got to the station, he found Clark at her desk, with Kira's sword out in front of her, staring off at Kira who was handcuffed to the bench nearby.

"Is it really necessary for this girl to be cuffed here? If she was actually involved then it was self-defense."

"That correct Sheriff." Everyone turned to see that Mr. Yukimura was stepping in the room with his wife behind him.

"Dad, don't say anything," said Kira as her mother moved over for her.

Her dad didn't listen and kept his gaze on the Sheriff. "The sword is mine," he told him.

"Really?"

"No," Kira spoke out. "It's mine."

Her dad kept talking like she had said nothing. "I was attacked in my home. I grabbed a replica sword from my collection and defended myself."

Noah moved to fold his arms and firmly face the man. He knew what Mr. Yukimura was trying to do and he couldn't have it. Not now. "And how exactly did the body end up at the McCall's house?"

"Apparently she wasn't quite dead," Noshiko threw in.

"Sheriff, I have a call to my lawyer. If you need to take me into custody, I'm happy to surrender myself."

Noah moved over to him and stared the man down. "Is that really what you're going to go with? This is your story?"

"Are you prepared to tell a different one?" Noshiko said, almost threateningly.

He moved to stare directly at her for a moment before some noise made them look over to see Stiles was making his way for the room. He looked a bit flushed but determined as he locked eyes with his dad.

A few moments later, Stiles and his dad along with Kira and her parents were in the Sheriff's office listening to what Stiles learned about the attack at the McCall home.

"So, I really did this?" Kira said after he was done. "I killed her."

"Kira," Noshiko said sternly. "You didn't do this. The fox in you must've taken control, to protect both itself and you."

Stiles nodded. "Your mom's right. Kira."

"Wait," his dad cut in. "You're telling me that you saw this girl attacking Kira by a touching a scratch in the wall?" he asked skeptically.

"It's more complicated than that dad. Look the point is, I felt how much that chimera was trying to kill Kira. I saw and felt how much she wanted to."

"A young girl is still dead Stiles."

"Dad, this isn't some young girl. It's a chimera. And if she's who I think it is then she has already killed at least one person already."

"Yeah, well unfortunately I can't just let Kira go because my son had a…vision," he snapped.

"Dad-" Stiles started.

"No, but her father already gave a statement about what happened," Mr. Yukimura cut in, calmly staring at the Sheriff.

There was then a knock on the door and everyone looked to see that it was Clark, and Parrish was with her.

"Everything ok Sheriff?" Parrish asked as he opened the door.

Noah stared at them for a moment before looking over at Kira for a second and then turned his gaze to his son, who was staring blankly at him. He sighed to himself before looking back over to his deputies. "It's fine. Please take Kira and my son to wait outside. Mr. Yukimura has agreed to make an official confession."

Stiles and Kira were taken out to the bench by Clark while Parrish went off to grab the witness statements for Kira's parents to fill out. They moved to sit there while Clark watched them from her desk. After a while, Stiles let his gaze go out towards the windows and saw that the skies were starting to brighten a bit. The sun was starting to come up. His nose then crinkled as he felt a growing bit of guilt well up and looked over at Kira who was tensely watching their parents.

"Don't blame yourself," Stiles said, making her look away.

"I'm not," she said, shaking her head. That made Stiles raise an eyebrow at her. She sighed. Of course, he knew she was lying. "Right. Sorry."

"It's okay. I saw what happened. Look, there's still some things about the whole fox thing that I still don't get. But, if this is the same girl that helped kill Satomi's Second Wilson, then you could've been the body Scott's mom found last night instead. Or Scott could've come home and found her," he said, getting a little angry at the thought. But he shook himself out of it. "You don't have to feel guilty."

"I can't help it," Kira sighed out.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," he said, looking over at his father through the glass.

She then got up when her mother stepped out of the office. Kira went over to go and give her mother a hug while Stiles stayed seated and watched them. He understood what Kira was feeling all too well. He knew what it was like to be driven to this because of a chimera trying to kill them and those around or important to them. And he was also starting to get a little scared. If his dad was being like this with Kira, then, what would happen if he were to learn about what happened with him and Donovan? He then sniffed the air and looked over at the door in time to see Scott coming in.

Scott and Stiles quickly filled the other in on everything that had happened that night. Needless to say, they both felt emotionally stretched by the end of all of it. Stiles went off to call Malia while Scott went off to talk with Kira.

"You don't think that he'll really arrest your dad, do you?" asked Scott, looking towards the Sheriff's office.

Kira shook her head morosely. "He has to. My dad basically confessed."

"And, you don't remember anything?"

"Nothing. It was like sleepwalking. Suddenly, I'm just standing out in the middle of the road."

To Scott, it sounded like whatever happened to Kira at the station and the club happened to her at his house.

"Okay, we'll figure it out."

"What about Liam and Hayden?"

"We're all meeting at my place. We'll come up with something." His mood then fell more. "I don't want to leave you, but, I've got to find them."

Kira nodded. "I know."

"I wouldn't leave," he quickly said.

But Kira shook her head. She understood. Liam and Hayden were in trouble and they needed Scott and the others right now more than she did. Scott didn't have to try so hard to explain it to her. "It's okay. My mom's taking me home anyway. We have to talk to a lawyer. There's nothing anyone can do right now. You should go."

"Yeah, right," he mumbled.

Yet before he could begin to leave, he felt Kira hand go for his, stopping him.

"Scott, you don't think that I really wanted to kill her, do you?"

Scott stared at her for a moment and he shook his head. "No, of course not."

Scott moved to give Kira a soft kiss on her forehead before he turned to head on out. Yet, he barely got a step when he saw that Stiles was standing in the path, giving Scott a bit of a look and froze. They just stood there, staring right at each other. Scott knew what was wrong. Stiles had just heard him and Kira talking, and knew that he had just lied to her. For a moment, he thought Stiles would do or say something, especially with Kira still watching them, but he just turned and walked away. Scott stared after him for a moment before he moved to leave too, throwing one last look Kira's way.

From his office, the Sheriff watched them leave too.

* * *

A/N: I'm sorry for the late update but I have a lot of new ideas and changes to throw around starting around this 'episode'. Already, some of them had been thrown into this chapter. I can't wait to hear what you guys think of them and will think of what is still to come.


	22. Ouroboros part 2

Chapter 21: Ouroboros part 2

Scott gave Kira a last long look before he went out to the parking lot to find Stiles hard at work, trying to get his jeep to start. Scott let himself take a look at it to see that it looked in even more bad shape than he remembered. There were dents and scratches spread about the hood and doors and he saw a spot of black soot on the passenger door. He knew that something had flipped over Stiles' jeep, but seeing all this new damage, his nerves couldn't help but get even more tense.

"Stiles," he said, coming over to the door and seeing Stiles impatiently trying to getting the car to start. "We better get to my house."

Stiles moved to give the key another turn but the engine still just coughed without starting. "I'm not going," he said, keeping his eye on the dash.

Scott blinked. "What?" he puffed out.

He then turned the key again, and the engine suddenly roared to life, making Stiles give off a heated sigh before looking over at him. "Malia's dad is watching over Satomi and her pack, helping them heal at their place. I'm heading over there."

"Stiles, we don't have time for that. Corey's at my house. We need him to tell us where he was. That's where Liam and Hayden will be."

"How? Malia told me that she, Lydia and Mason gave him the Dread Doctors' book because he doesn't remember anything."

"Yeah, so we have to be there so we can move when we find them."

"Scott, when we read that book it took a good part of a day before anything started happening. And we don't even know if what he'll remember is where he was."

"Then we help him remember it," said Scott sternly.

"How?" Stiles said back. "We can't magically help someone remember something they don't remember. Besides, even if we do find where they are, to get Liam and Hayden back from the Doctors, we can't do it ourselves. They're too strong for us, Scott. We're going to need more help."

"They couldn't help us before," Scott argued. "They still took Liam and Hayden even when they were there with us."

"Yeah, and they got hurt because they were there. And that's on me."

Stiles didn't spare another word after that, as he put his jeep in drive and then started to drive on out of there, leaving Scott narrowing his eyes after him. Scott didn't understand. Stiles had asked for Satomi and her pack's help. He was why they were there at the school. What happened to all of them was his fault and he had to help them.

Scott stood there, watching the jeep leave the lot and then ran an angry hand through his hair. He had to admit, that Stiles had a point. The book may get Corey to remember where the Dread Doctors had him, but by the time he did, it might be too late. He made a tight in aggravation and he quickly smelled the scent of blood as his nails had dug into his palm. Scott then looked at his bloodied fingernails and a light went on. He then wasted no more time in hopping onto his bike and setting for his house.

* * *

The hospital's morgue was getting secured. Police led by Jordan Parrish were moving about as Parrish gave orders and had his fellow deputies cover different parts of the floor. Parrish moved down the halls to make sure that every possible way onto the level and the morgue were covered. He put a man in front of the emergency exits as well as in front of the elevator. He also arranged for a man to be on guard at the hospital's front entrance, garage and the main reception desk. Most of them had shotguns on hand and he set up for check ins to be made every half hour from each officer.

"Parrish, don't you think this is a bit too much?" one of them asked him. "I mean, I know Stilinski made you in charge here but this feels like overkill for a body snatcher."

Jordan narrowed his eyes. "Just keep watch Duncan," he grunted at him.

The deputy named Duncan sighed but nodded. "Yes sir," he muttered out, but Jordan caught the roll of his eyes as he was turning to go to his station.

Jordan headed to go and check that everything and everyone else was secure. Duncan wasn't the only one. Jordan could read the apprehension and discomfort on the others as they stood at their posts, as well as the doctors, nurses and patients who caught sight of them with the weapons they were carrying. He could understand why they would all be feeling some sort aversion to all this. At first glance, this all would seem a little too much. But none of them knew who they were really up against, or what. And neither did he or anyone else, which is why Stilinski made him in charge. He just hoped he was ready to handle this.

He had run into Stiles when he came to the station and he had told him of how whoever was taking the bodies had enough strength to flip his jeep over and made things catch fire and burn around it. He had even found ash like footprints from where the body was taken. Jordan found himself blinking a bit at the thought but quickly shook it off. He couldn't lose his head now.

Though, right now, he was happy to be here, away from the station. It was a little too hard being around Deputy Clark right now. Not only had they failed to keep the Dread Doctors from taking her sister Hayden, but Liam had also been kidnapped. Her calm and smiling face only added to his discomfort. She didn't even know that her little sister was even in trouble. He sincerely hoped Lydia and her friends could at least get two of them back. He did not want the next body he guarded to be hers.

He then made his way into the morgue, to see that it was empty. Jordan cocked his shotgun and let his eyes fall down to the handgun holstered on his belt before standing directly in front of the locker holding the chimera, his eyes trained on the door.

* * *

Corey was being handed a copy of the Dread Doctors book by Lydia and his forefinger went over the illustration. He eyed it with quite a bit of apprehension.

"So…you're saying that these guys did something to me? The same way they did something to Lucas?"

Lydia nodded. "They're called the Dread Doctors. And they're taking people and are changing them using some kind of pseudo-science."

"Changing them into monsters." He then looked away from the cover to eye her and Mason who was standing at his side.

"Chimeras," said Lydia. "A creature made from composite parts of other creatures."

"Like Lucas? Is that what's happening to me? Am I going to hurt people?"

"No," Mason quickly said. "You won't. We're not going to let that happen."

Corey let out a deep breath before away from him and back to the book. "And, you want to read this to try to find where they took your friends?"

Lydia crossed her arms. "This book is supposed to help people recover lost memories. The Dread Doctors make people forget about seeing them. And what they do to them. But, if you could remember when and where they took you-"

"Then we'll know where they might've taken Liam and Hayden," Mason finished for her. "It's okay Corey," he said, just before he put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I trust these guys. They'll help you."

They all heard some thumping and looked to the door to see Malia coming in, Theo right behind her, holding her phone out. "Stiles just called."

Mason stayed with Corey while the three of them went downstairs to talk.

Lydia shook her head. "So, what's going to happen to Kira?" she asked after Malia was done explaining.

"Well, her dad is claiming that the sword is his and is making a full confession. She's free to go. Can they really arrest her dad for this?"

"Unless there is evidence or a witness that proves he's lying, they have to. Parrish, he sent me a text. He's at the hospital. The Sheriff made him in charge of guarding the body."

"Why?"

"It's the only evidence they have. Without it, there's no case."

"So, then are we hoping that the thief does or doesn't take this body too?" Theo asked them a little hesitantly.

Lydia and Malia shared a small look. Neither of them really knew the answer to that one.

"And, how did you say Stiles knows what happened?" said Theo after a moment.

"Uh, he said that he was able to see the fight between Kira and the chimera when he touched one of the scratches they left behind."

"It must've been an Event Scar?"

"A what?" asked Malia.

"An Event Scar," she repeated. "From what we can tell it's some kind of werewolf version of Psychometry." That made Theo and Malia look at her blankly. "The ability to ascertain an event or person through physical contact with associated inanimate objects," she further explained.

Theo blinked. "Wait, so you're saying that Stiles could see and find out the truth about anything or anyone by touching something connected with them?"

Lydia shook her head. "No, not exactly. This ability apparently only works if there were strong enough emotions felt while something happened to leave of an imprint for him to tap into and see it."

"Imprint?" repeated Theo.

"A scar."

"Like that one left by the chimera's claws?"

"Yes, but it doesn't always have to be something physical, it could be metaphysical. For the last year, it was happening at random. Stiles would suddenly just touch something and it would trigger it. He could see an event play out like a memory and learn things that he couldn't possibly have known."

"Wow, that's…quite an ability."

And one that Theo had no idea about. This was a wild card and he could feel that it would throw a wrench in everything. But, he tried not to panic, and pushed his feelings down to make sure that Malia didn't pick anything off.

Lydia kept talking through his thoughts. "Yeah, apparently its one that not a lot of werewolves can get. I've spent some time helping him with researching everything that might relate to what he can do. He's also spent a good part of the summer working on developing it with Satomi trying to help him. He's gotten better, but from what we can tell he can't really tap into scars unless they were made by strong and the most intense of emotions."

"Uh, Stiles said that he felt both rage and desperation from the chimera when he saw what happened," Malia mumbled, almost to herself.

"Yeah, that would do it." She then folded her arms. "You know, I can understand the rage, but what could've made this chimera so desperate to come here and try to kill Kira, or Scott or his mom?"

Theo's jaw tightened a bit. He was realizing that his last, dismissive conversation with Courtney set off those emotions, rushing here to try and please him but had gone and left one of these 'scars' for Stiles.

"Hey," he suddenly asked. "Um, can Stiles somehow use these Scars to find where Liam and Hayden are? You know, by touching Corey and see if his capture left one on him to see?"

"I…I'm not sure," she mumbled. "It's not really an exact science. The fact that Corey doesn't remember what happened or what he was feeling might play a factor it or might not. I guess Stiles can give it a try when he and Scott arrive."

Lydia then went off to go back to Scott's room and help with Corey, leaving Malia and Theo downstairs. Theo took a look around where there was still some damage from the fight with Kira and Courtney to see that there were some claw marks on the walls. Scars left behind. Theo couldn't help but feel that this could be trouble. With everything going on, there was a chance that Stiles could run into a 'scar' that showed him something about himself. He'd been so careful with everything but this could change it all. There had to be a way passed this, or at least work around it until he could get what he wanted.

But his nose twitched when he felt a wave of anxiety and looked over to see Malia sitting on the couch in the living room, looking glum as she played with a mug of coffee. He couldn't resist a bit of a grin creeping on him at the sight of her.

"You okay?" he asked as he walked to her.

She rose her head up to look up at Theo. "You seriously need to ask me that?" she slurred out.

He let a small smirk loose as he nodded his head a bit. "Right, stupid question. You're upset. You want to tell me why?"

She shrugged. "No, not really."

"Okay," Theo nodded before he moved closer. "It's just, uh, I couldn't help but notice you were kind of quiet when Lydia was telling us about Stiles' new trick with Event Scars. Your boyfriend's really something."

"Yeah, he is," she said slowly, almost to herself.

Theo's face fell a bit. "Why does it sound like that bothers you?" he asked, in a concerned tone.

"It doesn't." That made Theo tilt his head slightly at her. "It's just…he never told me. Me and Stiles spoke so much during the summer…and he never told me. At all." She leaned back a bit. "But he told Lydia."

"Well, she is pretty smart."

"Yeah, I know. Stiles calls her a genius every time."

"Wait." Theo then moved to sit down next to her. "Are you jealous? I mean, I know Stiles had a crush on Lydia since like the third grade."

"No," she quickly said at him, cutting him off there. "I mean, yeah, he did. He actually told me about that. But it's okay, I mean, I know they're just friends now."

Theo could hear the lack of doubt in her voice about that. "Okay, so what's wrong then?"

"It's just…maybe Stiles didn't tell me because he knew I couldn't help." She then let her eyes lower down to look into her mug.

"What? No, I'm sure that's not it."

Malia cut him off. "It is." She then took a sip from her cup. "When I told him that I wanted to find my mother, he ended being the one that did most of the work. I couldn't help him with any of it all. I don't know how. It's probably why he didn't tell me about him trying to learn how to use these Event Scars. I mean I'm not smart like him. I'm not Lydia. They're taking AP classes and getting A's. Most of the time, I don't know what either of them are even talking about."

"Hey, don't start thinking that means you're dumb," he said softly, making her look up at his concerned face. "It's okay. I mean, I have AP classes and I'm doing pretty good and still, sometimes _I_ don't even know what they're talking about," he tried to joke.

Malia smiled for a moment before it fell flat. "Stiles is going off to college. He keeps talking about where he's going. Where everyone is going when we finish our senior year."

"But you don't think you can go," he said softly.

"Not to ones that he's looking at." She sighed. "He keeps showing me some brochures and sites for community colleges, you know, so we can all still be together."

"Oh? Well, that sounds nice."

"Yeah, but…I don't think I even want to go. To college I mean."

"Well, what do you want to do?"

She shook her head. "I…I don't know."

Theo moved to slowly move his hand over so that it softly brushed over her wrist and gave it a comforting squeeze. Malia rose her gaze up to catch his eyes. She felt her heart starting to pick up a small pace and heating up a bit, a heat that went down for her stomach causing it to knot up slightly. It was like what happened when she confronted him at the school's weight room, but she found herself not wanting to turn away. Theo wasn't turning away either, and started to let his thumb start moving and rubbing circles over her hand.

It only lasted for half a minute though as they suddenly heard an engine incoming and stopping right outside, making them look towards the door and breaking the moment.

Theo cleared his throat. "Uh, that must be Scott and Stiles." He couldn't help but be a little annoyed at their timing.

Malia let out a deep breath. "Yeah," she said, right before setting her mug down on the nearby coffee table and moving for the door.

Scott entered his home and saw that Malia and Theo were there, waiting for him. "Where's Corey?"

"He's in your room with Lydia and Mason," Theo told him.

"Scott," Malia said, looking at the door behind him. "Where's Stiles? Wasn't he with you?"

"Yeah, but he went off to your dad's place to check Satomi and the others." Without another word, he moved for the stairs, heading for his room without looking back.

Mason and Lydia were in his room, standing off to the side, watching Corey as he was sitting and reading the book. Corey looked up and saw that they were patient but eager.

"Sorry," Corey apologized. "I'm still only at Chapter 2. I'm kind of a slow reader."

"Don't worry, it's okay Corey," Mason said

But then Scott entered the room. "He's right," he said, making them all look up at him. "We don't have time for that anyway." He then stomped his way for Corey, shifting the claws out in his right hand.

Lydia noticed and realized what he was about to do. "No, Scott don't!" she yelled just before he went and jammed his claws right into Corey, his eyes glowing bright red.

Scott saw Corey gasped as soon as his claws connected with his spine and then suddenly saw the young kid being dragged off by the Dread Doctors. He was in a darkly lit corridor with pipes surrounding the walls and ceiling. He was then dragged into a space where there were metal tables and instruments scattered around. Dragging him to a table, Corey screamed and fought before freezing when he looked in horror as he saw what seemed like a monstrous looking…man in a glass tube filled with green liquid. He only screamed louder, scared that would be him.

Theo and Malia came rushing in and stopped at the seeing Scott with his claws in Corey.

"What's happening?" Theo asked.

"Scott, he's tapping into Corey's memories," answered Lydia. "It's usually something only Alphas can do."

"Is it as dangerous as it looks?" he asked her.

"Very," Lydia said, numbly staring at some blood dripping down Corey's neck. She then saw Mason going over but Lydia moved to grab him. "No," she said, pulling him back. "We shouldn't touch them."

As they went through over a minute of watching them, Mason was getting more and more worried. "How much longer is this going to be?" he anxiously asked the room.

But the next moment, Scott and Corey gasped as they moved to separate from each other. Scott stomped back a few steps where Theo moved to steady him while Mason moved off to Corey as he held his bleeding neck.

"Is he okay?" Scott coughed out.

"What the hell did you do to me?!" Corey cried out, reaching for his neck and feeling the fresh blood from the wound.

"You'll be alright," Scott said back to him.

But Corey pulled his hand away and saw his fingers completely coated in fresh blood. His blood. He held it out for everyone to see. "There's blood," he cried out.

"You'll heal," Scott disregarded.

That made Lydia widen her eyes. She'd never thought she would ever hear Scott blow off someone in pain, especially one he personally hurt.

Mason was shocked as well. "Scott…you just jammed your claws into his neck."

"He'll be fine!" Scott spat, making Mason take a small step back. But Scott just shook his head. "Look, I think it worked. I saw something." He then went over and reached for a nearby book and started drawing. "There were tunnels. Pipes on the walls. Huge pipes at the entrance, two on both sides. Water was dripping everywhere."

"Wait, I know that place," Lydia said as she came over and looked at what Scott just drew. "Yeah, that sounds just like where Jordan found Argent when he went to look for Kate. Those are the tunnels for the town's purification system. The water treatment plant."

"That's it," Scott said, his breathing starting to ease up. "That's where we'll find Liam and Hayden."

Scott then took off and headed down the stairs with everyone trailing behind him.

"I'm coming with you," Malia said to him. She then turned to Theo. "You too?"

"Yeah, we could use the help," said Scott. If they ran into the Dread Doctors, Theo could come in handy.

"Uh, maybe I should stay here. You know, in case the Dread Doctors decide to pay Corey a house call."

Scott felt Theo had a point, Corey shouldn't be left alone now. They couldn't lose another one.

"Yeah, okay," he nodded.

"Wait, I'm going too," said Mason.

"No," Corey shouted. "You can't go."

Mason stopped and looked back over at Corey. "Liam's my best friend. He needs me, and so does Hayden. I'm going."

"No, I meant you can't go, with _him_ ," he said, pointedly glaring at Scott.

Scott let out an impatient huff. "We don't have time for this." He then looked over at Mason. "You have your car?"

"Yeah." Mason nodded.

"Okay, then let's go."

"Scott," Lydia said, making them stop and turn to look back at her. "You could've really hurt him."

He looked over at her and then at everyone else, seeing them all looking at him a little uncomfortably. But Scott just shook his head as he looked back at Lydia. "I have to find Liam."

"Then maybe we should call Stiles. Tell him what you just saw and he can come help."

"No!" Scott said, making her jump. "Stiles is off checking on Satomi and her pack. That's at the other end of town. We can't waste time waiting for him. It's only fifteen minutes away from here. Okay, we have to go and get to Liam now."

He then moved to head out the door. Malia and Mason looked back over at Theo and Corey respectively. They stared at them for a moment, in hesitation, before they moved to follow after him.

After they left out the door, Theo turned and noticed that Lydia was looking at him, and she didn't seem happy. It was only for a moment before she went off to grab her phone, probably to call Stiles. That left him and Corey alone there. He then went to the chimera and brought him over to rest and relax on the couch in Scott's living room.

* * *

When he heard the knocking on his door, Henry Tate moved off quickly for it with his shotgun ready at his side. Though he settled when he heard Stiles' voice begin calling out from the other side.

"Mr. Tate, please don't shoot. It's me." The man sighed as he moved to open the door the door, a little more relaxed as he looked upon the face of his daughter's boyfriend. "Smelled your anxiety as soon as I got to the front porch, and the gunpowder."

"Sorry Stiles," he said as he let him in. "After last night-"

"Yeah," Stiles nodded. "I know." Mr. Tate would have a right to be anxious. "How are they?"

"Well, most of them have fully healed by now. Some just really needed to have some rest. When they woke up, most of them left. Their Alpha," he said, testing the word. Even after all these months, he was still lost on some of this stuff. "Satomi, she was hit the worst of them. She's in the kitchen with some that stayed."

Stiles then headed off for the kitchen with Tate trailing right behind him. Sitting down beside the table was Satomi and she had Brett, Lori, as well as three other betas standing about in the kitchen. Stiles let his eyes go to the table where there were a few blood-stained bandages about. He then saw that Satomi had a big blood stain on her shirt, right over left collarbone.

"Are you alright?" he quickly asked.

She solemnly looked over at him. "Yes, it's not as bad as it looks. Believe me, I've had worse."

"What happened?"

"She was stabbed," said one of her betas angrily. Trey, Stiles believed his name was. He was one of her older ones. In his mind to late 20's. "They got her with one of her own knives and pinned her up on the wall."

"It sounds worse than it was," Satomi said, quickly sensing arising Stiles guilt.

"Any luck finding Liam and Hayden?" asked Lori.

Stiles shook his head. "No, not yet. But don't worry, Liam's tough and he knows we're looking for him. He'll hang in there and get word to us when he can. When he does, we'll be ready."

"We?" Trey spoke out again. "I know you're not including all of us in that again."

"Trey," Lori started.

"No Lori. Satomi could've been killed. All of us could've. If they had wanted to, then we'd all be dead right now," Trey spat, before looking almost accusingly at Stiles. "He and his Alpha treated us like cannon fodder, all because they wanted a Frankenstein for a pet."

"Hey," Brett said, moving to get in Trey's face. "Cool it Trey."

"What, trying to be a tough guy now?" he said before giving him a shove. "Wilson's not here to cover your smug wise ass anymore Talbot." That earned him a shove from Brett.

"Enough!" Satomi said, rising to her feet and glaring at them, red eyes and fangs in sight. "Both of you!" The two of them let out a deep huff as they glared at one another but they backed down.

"What's he talking about?" Stiles asked, once he was sure they were settled down enough. "What did Scott do?"

That made Brett and Lori share a small look while Satomi drop her gaze a bit. They all then went and told them exactly what happened at the school, especially the parts that Scott seemed to omit when they had met at the station.

"He had his own little secret plan to catch one of these guys and got angry when he was found out?"

"Sure sounded like it," said Brett. "Liam was really pissed when it came out, even for him."

"Oh, that doesn't surprise me. Dangling a girl you like can do that to a guy." He then saw Lori hang her head down and felt a wave a sadness leave her. "Uh, a girl he _kind of_ likes," he quickly said.

"It's alright Stiles. I get it," she said to him.

He then shook his head. "And Lydia knew about this too?" His phone then started ringing and he reached for it to see that it was Lydia calling. " _Speak of the she-devil_ ," he muttered to himself as he answered. "Lydia, what's up?" he said to her.

" _Stiles, Scott found where Liam is_ ," she said through the phone.

That made him straighten up. "He did, where?"

" _At the water treatment plant_."

"How does Scott knows that's where they are?"

" _The Dread Doctors took Corey into tunnels with pipes all around the walls. I recognized it as a purification system._ "

He nodded. "Yeah, I've been to those tunnels before. I used to skateboard there as a kid. My dad caught me once and made swear not to go back there. Wow, I can't believe the book made Corey remember that so quickly."

" _Yeah_ ," she said, dropping her voice a bit. " _That's the thing Stiles, he didn't. Scott didn't even let him try. He just went and forcefully looked into his memories_."

"What? You mean, connecting with his spine?"

" _When he got to the house, he just went right up to Corey and jammed his claws right into the kid's neck_."

Stiles' eyes widened, as did Satomi, who was listening in, along with everyone else in the room save for Henry Tate. "Lydia, do you know how dangerous that was?"

" _Of course I do_ ," she almost spat at him. Lydia was there when he was warned by both Derek and Peter before he had done it to try and save Stiles from the Nogitsune. There was a real chance that he might've paralyzed Corey, or even killed him. " _But Scott just did it, and he went and blew it all off."_

He narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip on the phone slightly. Stiles couldn't believe Scott. Especially given what happened between him and Kira at the station earlier. No, maybe he should believe it. After all, this wasn't the first time he's done something like this.

"Is he there now?" he asked, in suppressed anger.

" _No, it's just me and Theo here, watching Corey. He took Malia and Mason with him a little while ago. I said we should call and wait for you but he didn't want to wait_."

"Alright, thanks for the head's up." He then looked up to see that everyone was staring at him.

"What is Scott thinking?" Lori asked.

But Stiles wouldn't stay here and debate. "I got to go."

"Stiles, wait," Satomi said before he could make more than one step. "Now's not the time to be reckless."

"What? No, I have to go and help."

"And how is running around like a headless chicken helping? Those tunnels run for miles underneath the town. And, the heavy water and purifying agents make it hard for werewolves to track. Scott's charging in blind, with no sense of direction, all he's going to wind up doing is getting lost and waste time. Also, just because that's where Scott saw the Dread Doctors take Corey, doesn't mean that your friends were taken there, or are even still there."

"But Liam-"

"Is a tough kid and knows you're all looking for him and Hayden," she said, cutting in. "When he can, he'll send word to you and your friends. Your words, remember?" That made Stiles freeze and he found himself unable to say anything in response. "Scott risked making a boy collateral damage, for a lead. He's being impatient and irrational. We can't afford you being the same."

Stiles took a moment to close his eyes and take deep breaths. "Okay," he sighed out.

"You alright?" Henry asked him.

He took a few more seconds to show that he was calm and settled. "Yeah," he nodded. "Still, we can't just sit around here and wait. Until we get a better read on where Liam is, there's something we should take care of."

"What do you want to do?" Satomi asked him.

"The hospital. My dad brought the last body there. The chimera that Kira fought. Parrish sent me a message before I got here. My dad wants it to be watched. He's worried that whoever's taking the bodies will come for this one too. It's evidence so he can't have it taken. I'm going to head over there, and I think you should come to."

"Why?" she asked.

"Because, I'm pretty sure it's one you recognize."

* * *

Melissa McCall was in the Sheriff's station, writing a full witness statement for discovering the body in her house. She let herself give Kira a long, but soft look as she went to the Sheriff's office to hand it over to him. Noah spent a good five minutes going over it, his eyes re-reading it a half dozen times, and getting more agitated with each reading. He looked up from the form to see that Melissa was calmly staring back at him, like nothing was wrong which only incensed him more.

"This is your official statement?" he asked, trying not to lose his temper and stay professional.

"Something wrong?" she asked calmly, but clearly mocking.

"The part about finding the body in your kitchen works fine. But then it gets a little confusing when you start describing the body as a monstrous Chimera. And then you go on about werewolves, banshees, kanimas..."

She nodded. "You're right. I forgot about the Dread Doctors."

That made his stance fall from being professional to just being pissed off. A feeling that Melissa shared when she moved to snatch the form and pull out a pen to write more. Noah seriously wanted to throw something. The Yukimuras, his son, and now Melissa. It seemed like everyone was trying to make him out to be the bad guy here when he was just trying to do what his badge demanded he do. Enforce the law.

Yet before anything else could be said or done, Clark came into the room.

"Sheriff, I got the report in about the prank call the other night, the one from the school library. I was gonna file it when I saw the names."

Noah let out a deep breath and looked over at his deputy. "Clark, what do you need?" he asked impatiently.

"I-I checked on the key cards for the library. They're for…after hour's use," she said, dropping in tone. Her eyes went from the Sheriff to Ms. McCall and she seemed to finally notice the apparent tension that was in the room. "Uh, should I come back later?"

"Why are you telling me about library key cards?"

It was something so small and trivial. Noah figured that Clark wouldn't come to him over something like that.

"Uh, well, the system logged two names right around the time of the 911 call."

"What names?" he asked her.

"Theo Raeken…and your son, Stiles."

He narrowed his eyes before reaching out. "Let me see that file."

Noah looked and saw that the school computer had logged them being at the library that night, after hours. First Stiles, and then Theo roughly a minute later. What were they doing there? Together? It couldn't just be to make a prank call. At his most silliness, he knew that his son would never make prank calls to the police. Much less with Theo Raeken, whom Stiles made it no secret that he doesn't trust.

As the Sheriff read the file, Melissa narrowed her eyes a bit in thought. This somehow had tie in with what Stiles asked of her last night.

Clark spoke again as he kept reading. "I mean, obviously, Stiles isn't making prank calls to the station."

"Maybe he had a reason," Melissa slurred out.

Noah looked up from the file to stare at her for a moment before turning back to Clark. "I deal with it. No more bending the rules, for anyone," he said, pointedly looking at Melissa for the last part.

At that, Melissa picked herself up and stood in front of him. "Maybe you should learn to bend a little, before someone breaks." She then thrust her witness testimony at his chest before she moved to leave the office, taking care to slam the door a bit harder than necessary as she did. She then made to head to her car. She was heading to hospital to do some bending for a certain teen werewolf.

As soon as the door slammed, Noah moved to gaze at the form with a sullen look on his face. The next moment, his phone started ringing and he swiftly moved to answer it. Yanking it off the hook a little harder than necessary.

"Sheriff Stilinski," he answered stiffly. He settled a bit as he heard who was on the other line and what he had to say. He then nodded. "Alright, I'm on my way."

"Sir?" said Clark in a careful tone. "Are you alright?"

"I'll be fine Clark," he answered, before clearing his throat. "Uh, where is Yukimura?"

"I put him in the interrogation room. He's still waiting for his lawyer."

"Okay, then, when he arrives take him straight to him." He then moved to go for his jacket. "And let Kira go home."

"Where are you going sir?" she asked him.

"The hospital. Parrish just called. He's secured the morgue."

Stiles had told him that the body of Josh Diaz had been taken. This girl's body was the only one left, and it was officially evidence. He couldn't let this one be taken too. Not again.

* * *

Liam groaned a bit as he started to blink himself back to consciousness. He immediately detected a mild scent of rot and mildew in the air. The demented lab that he and Hayden were in was gone and now they were in some kind of dark space. But there was bright light coming from up ahead. As he let his eyes focus, he saw that there was a fence, blocking what seemed to be a way out. He pulled himself to his feet, just as Hayden was coming to herself. He slowly made his way over to it and saw that it looked like an ordinary gated door. One he might be able to break through so they could escape.

"Careful," Hayden said, as he got closer.

Liam took a deep breath and moved to grab it but the moment he touched it, jolts of electricity shot out and threw him on his back. Hayden moved to grab him, trying to see if he was alright. They then heard giggling from behind him.

"Sorry, I probably should've warned you."

Liam and Hayden that they were not alone. There was a guy, a bit older, and dressed in somewhat dirty clothes.

"You," Liam said, recognizing him from the lab. "Who are you?"

"My name's Zach. And, I think the better question is, what am I? It's okay, I'm just like you. One of the experiments."

"Yeah, I saw you get taken to the table. How long have you been here?"

Zach shook his head. "I don't know. Days I think." He then pulled himself up, moved over and kneeled down in front of them. In the light, they saw he was a bit pale and his face was just as dirty as his clothes. "But maybe you guys can help me. The guys in the masks…they did something. Shot me with something at my back. And…ever since I've been feeling better. But, I think they cut or pulled something out. I can still feel something there and this itching coming from it, and it feels like it's spreading."

Liam narrowed his eyes. "You want us to look?"

"Is that okay?" he asked them.

Liam and Hayden shared a look. As odd a request as that was, it wasn't exactly the strangest thing to happen in the last couple of days. And it wasn't like they were going anywhere. Liam nodded, telling him okay. Zack nodded back before turning around and then lifting his shirt. They looked over to see two stubs past his shoulder blades, and they wiggled a bit as if flapping wings that would be there if they weren't cut off. But, below each of them, there seemed to be some kind of…humps, growing and buried just beneath the skin.

"Well?" Zach asked, breaking the silence.

Liam looked over to see that Hayden looked she wanted to scream but was too scared to While he was…semi-experienced, some of this stuff still made him uneasy. But Hayden was thrown into this just two days ago. She would be freaking out.

"Uh, yeah they cut something out of you," Liam said, after clearing his throat. "But, I think something new is growing in its place."

Zach pulled his shirt down and turned to look squarely at him. "What?"

Liam blinked a bit, trying to not look away from him. "Well, it kind of looks like…wings," he said, trying to not sound as uncomfortable as he felt.

Making a chimera that could fly. The Dread Doctors were only getting more frightening every moment. Hayden tried to back away from Zach until she hissed out in pain.

"Ow," he muttered, as she moved to lift her shirt.

Liam looked over and found that there was a wound at her side, and it was bleeding black. She quickly moved to cover it up with her hand.

"Black," he muttered. Liam vaguely recalled hearing that black blood meant that a werewolf was rejecting the bite and could die. Was Hayden rejecting her…change? He had to get her help. "We have to get out of here."

He got up and went over to the gate again and moved his hand slowly to it but quickly retracted his hand when a spark went out as his hand got close enough.

Zach let out another small laugh. "What, fourth time's the charm. You're just wasting your time, there's no leaving this place."

"Shut up," he said, not in the mood for the guy's criticism. Liam then went and tried again. "Ahh," he cried out when he had to pull his hand back after receiving another shock.

"Why do you keep doing that?" Hayden asked.

Liam rubbed at his hands. "Whatever those doctors hit me with, it's keeping me using my powers. If I could just trigger my healing, I can push it out of my system. Then I can howl."

"Howl?" Zach asked amusingly. "What like a dog?"

"Like a wolf," he hissed back at him. "It's how they signal their location to the members of their pack when they're separated."

"You mean, Scott and the others will be able to find us?" she asked, a bit eagerly.

He nodded with a hopeful smile creeping up as they made eye contact. He then moved and tried putting his whole hand this time but Liam was zapped and thrown off his feet. Hayden moved to go and wrap him in her arms.

"Yeah, good luck with that," Zach said, with a roll of his eyes.

"You know," Hayden said, getting fed up listening to him. "You could be a little optimistic."

"It's kinda hard when you watch three people dragged away, screaming."

"Do you know what happened to them?" Liam asked, barely able to turn his head to look at him through the jolt.

Zach's smug look seemed to quell down a bit as the memories came back to him. "Those guys in the masks, doctors or whatever, they said they were failures. You see, first you forget. Who you are and what you're doing. Then, you get violent. I watched two of them almost kill each other. One of them, had gotten a nasty cut, like yours," he said, looking at where Hayden was bleeding. That made her pull her shirt over it, feeling self conscious all of a sudden. "Whoa, don't worry. Black is actually good. It's when you start bleeding other stuff that you should be scared about. When it turns silver."

"Mercury," Liam put in.

Zach nodded. "That when they know you're a failure."

"How many more are there going to be?" he asked.

There have been near a dozen already. How many more people are they going to take? When will they be done?

Zach shrugged. "Who knows, but doesn't it make you wonder, what is a success going to be like? I mean, what do they want? What are we turning into? Something with claws and fangs?"

"Or wings?" Liam asked him, pointedly. That made Zach shrink back a little and swallow nervously.

"Something worse," Hayden said in a small voice.

They took a moment to let their imaginations think of every horrifying outcome when Zach started to suddenly feel a little uncomfortable. He felt some kind of pressure in his back and moved to start to rub his back against the wall, like he had a bad itch he couldn't reach.

"What are you doing?" Hayden asked him.

"My back," he grunted as he kept rubbing before he froze when he noticed sparks firing off from the fences. He quickly pulled himself away and turned to face the entrance.

"What is it?" asked Liam.

"It's them," Zach gasped. "They're here."

Liam and Hayden then started hearing the echo of heavy steps approaching, and they looked over to see the Geneticist approaching. He let himself into the room, his body seeming to vibrate as he walked. Liam quickly pulled himself to try and cover Hayden from his sight but the doctor wasn't looking at her. He was looking right at Zach.

"Zach," he said as he started to step towards him.

Zach backed up and held his hand out. "No, no, no, please!" he cried. "I'm alright. I'm not bleeding silver or anything. I'm not a failure!"

" _Unknown_ ," the Geneticist muttered as he moved closer until he was right in front of him. " _Further study needed_." With that, he grabbed Zach and started to drag him out.

"Leave him alone!" Liam yelled, but still couldn't get to his feet.

Zach was screaming all the way out the door, which slammed shut after them, and was pulled out towards the light. Liam and Hayden could still hear his screaming, but it was getting fainter every passing second, until they couldn't hear it anymore.

Zach was taken out and saw that he was in some kind of abandoned or condemned building. He was dragged up some stairs and taken to a room where the other two were waiting.

The Surgeon tilted his head as he regarded him. " _Your condition is in flux_. _Need a better analysis_."

"What? What are you talking about?" he coughed out.

The Pathologist then wheeled over a small work tray, loaded with knives, scalpels and other sharp cutting tools. Zach's shot open as the sight of them freaked him to his core. He realized they were about to kill him and he tried to yank harder against the Geneticist's grip with renewed vigor.

"Let me go!" he said trying to pull away. "No!"

The Pathologist moved to help the Geneticist subdue him while the Surgeon moved to grab a bone saw from the tray and approach Zach as he was held.

"No! No! No!" Zach screamed out as the Surgeon got closer.

The irises of his eyes then glowed golden yellow and Zach felt a surge of pain that surged all throughout his back. As he did, the Geneticist and Pathologist where flung out in opposite directions as two giant wings erupted out from his back and tossed them away. The wings were majestic, like an eagle's and were as long as himself, with feathers each as big as his hand. Zach let out a roar before he ran and threw himself out the nearby window. The Surgeon moved over to it and saw the boy flying up into the sky.

" _As predicted_ ," he muttered through his mask. " _Massive Epinephrine release triggers response_."

The other two got to their feet and joined him.

" _Will it succeed?_ " asked the Geneticist.

" _Unknown. Probability of success, not high_ ," the Pathologist answered.

" _He's only a test. Zach's fate…inconsequential_ ," said the Surgeon." _We have others."_

* * *

When the car pulled up to the water treatment plant, Scott, Mason and Malia practically hopped out of the car and bolted into the complex. They made their way down into the purification system and Scott led the way down into the tunnels.

"Liam!" Malia quickly called out, hearing her voice echo down one of the tunnels.

"Can you catch a scent?" Mason asked them.

Scott shook his head. "They're too many chemicals."

"So, this might take a while then?"

Scott didn't answer. He just kept moving and Mason and Malia followed after him.

They started to go down the tunnels, calling for Liam and Hayden. Soon, it was suggested that they try splitting up. They could hear each other's voices, calling out for their friends, but the lack of response only started to make the three of them feel more desperate. Scott then started running as fast as he could but unexpectedly found himself bumping into Malia.

"Anything?" he asked her.

"Nothing," she told him.

Suddenly, they looked over and saw Mason coming out of an intersection.

"Okay, We need to make sure that we're not covering the same area," he said, breathing a little hard.

"Uh, do you need your inhaler?" Mason asked him, concerned that Scott might suffer an asthma attack down here.

He shook his head before he stilled as he heard some buzzing sounds. "Quiet. I think I hear something."

Malia looked out and heard the buzzing too. "It's just the lights, isn't it?"

Scott blinked. It couldn't be the lights. It had to be the Dread Doctors. "This way," he said, leading them off.

Yet, Scott soon came upon a faulty looking overhead light that was blinking and making somewhat loud buzzing sounds every time it flickered. He bit back his frustration and directed down a different tunnel. They then spent almost two more hours, calling for Liam and Hayden again, but after a while, the strain was starting to get to them. They were running out of energy, and hope. Mason felt he had to stop and leaned against one of the pipes.

"I'm telling you guys," he said to Scott and Malia as they went to him. "We've been down this one before."

Scott realized that Mason was right. They were starting to go around in circles.

He shook his head as he was panting for breath. "What the hell are we doing? We're running up and down this place. Up and down tunnels. There's no way…there's no way, no way, we're going to find." He started breathing even harder.

"Scott, you need your inhaler." But Scott shook his head at her. "Scott, use it. You have to use your inhaler."

Scott then fell onto his knees and realized that he couldn't avoid it anymore. He went to his pocket and pulled it up and began pumping the medicinal air into his lungs. It took a moment, but he found himself able to breathe again, just like he used to, before he was a werewolf.

"This is all my fault." He had promised that he would protect Hayden, and he hadn't even been around to keep her and Liam from being taken. Now, he was running them down a wild goose chase, while who knew what was happening to them. "We're never going to find them and it's all my fault."

Mason went and held his hand out to him. "Scott," he muttered, offering to help him up.

Scott took it and he got to his feet. "We should keep looking."

"We should keep trying," Mason told him.

The three of them took a different direction, unknowingly passing by a carving of an Ouroboros.

* * *

After she was freed to go, Kira's mother thought it was best that she not be seen wandering around town so callously for a day or so. At least until the mess with her father was sorted out. To try and not feel completely useless, she tried again to read the book. Yet, just like before, none of the words seemed to be sticking for her. She couldn't even read a full sentence without suffering a migraine. Her friends were all out, trying to help everyone and stop the Dread Doctors and she was here, barely able to get passed a few pages in a book. She was completely useless.

She just let out a great big huff and threw the book across the room in frustration. Just barely missing her mother as she was walking in. Kira bit back some humiliation she felt at her mother catching her like this.

Noshiko went to pick up the book. "I can't help but notice your frustration," she said to her, simply.

"I'm the only one who still hasn't finished reading it. And everything that started going wrong with me started with them."

Kira's mom took her hand and led her to sit with her on the bed. "It's the language that's confusing the fox."

"A language trick," Kira nodded. "Yeah, my friend Mason said it was tricking the fox part of me, making it so I couldn't understand what it was saying."

Noshiko started to flip through the pages of the book. "Then stop trying to understand it."

"Huh?" Kira asked, confused.

"It's not the words, it's the story. The story itself is confusing the fox. Try not reading the story."

"How do I do that?"

"Read it backwards."

With that, Kira's mother then left her to try this new method. Kira started with the last page of the book and started reading the story in reverse. Kira found that the words weren't affecting her like they were before. Before she knew it, she was passed over thirty pages when she felt something stirring within her. Before she knew it, she found herself not sitting in her room, but in the back seat of her family's car. She was on Route 115, and there was traffic as far as the eye could see.

This was the night of Senior Scribe. When she had come back to Beacon Hills.

Suddenly, three figures passed by the front of her car. They moved over and opened her door and Kira saw that it was the Dread Doctors. No one else saw though. Not her parents, or the people in the cars next to them, as they grabbed her and threw her on the hood of her car. Kira gasped as they went and jammed a needle into her eye and started pumping something into her.

She then gasped and found herself back in her room. She remembered.

* * *

Lydia was wiping a wet rag over Corey's neck, cleaning the blood, and found the wound was gone.

"It healed, didn't it?" he asked them.

"Yeah, it did," said Theo.

"Great," Corey said, getting up. "Okay, then. It's been fun. Especially the part where a werewolf forced his way into my brain, with his claws."

He then started to leave but Theo moved to stop him.

"Leaving's not a good idea Corey. You know, Lydia's a Banshee. It means she can tell when someone's close to death. Lydia, what happens if he walks out that door?" he said, turning over to her and giving her a pointed look, telling her to play along.

"It's bad," she said. "Very bad."

Corey rolled his eyes. "I'll take my chances," he said, heading for the door.

But Theo couldn't let him leave. Corey was the best way for him to get what he needed to earn his place in the pack. Besides, maybe Liam and Hayden have been gone long enough. Not to mention that he couldn't let this go on too much longer. If Stiles was keeping Satomi and her pack involved, he couldn't risk crossing paths with them in the search, not before he got everything he'd been wanting.

"Please, give us another chance to find our friends," he told him, making him stop. "What else did you see? Come on Corey, there had to be something else." Something he could believably spin to get everyone's trust.

"There was, the hospital. And, they took me out of my room."

"To where?" Lydia asked.

"I don't know. I told you, that's it."

"Yeah, nothing after that?" Theo pressed.

"No."

"No, there has to be more," Theo said, raising his voice when he saw that Corey was trying to leave again. "Think. Corey, for one minute, just…just think."

Corey shook his head, getting annoyed with being kept here, before he suddenly stopped. "There, there was a basement."

"Where? Like in a building?" Lydia quickly asked.

"A house. It was old, covered in dust. And…there was a broken stone wall with a large hole in it. Like a bomb went off."

That was what Theo needed. He looked over at Lydia as her mind was spinning a mile a minute. "Lydia, the werewolf with the talons, the one that attacked Scott, didn't Parrish say that he smashed through the wall of a basement? Wasn't it something like that?"

"No, it was exactly that."

* * *

Melissa flagged down one of her fellow nurses to hold her place at the front desk while she ran a small errand. She made her way to the elevator and headed up to the level where the hospital's record room was. Twice, in two days, she was coming in here at the request of a Stilinski. To do something less than ethical. But, she could only hope this time, it won't be thrown back in her face.

Had she stayed at the desk for another two minutes, she would've seen the small group of werewolves enter the building.

Stiles and Satomi led the way into the hospital with Brett, Lori, and her betas following after them. Stiles was giving Satomi a run down of what had happened during his and Theo's watch of Josh's body.

Satomi shook her head. "Sorry, I have no clue."

"You mean to tell me that you never once come across something with enough strength to flip jeeps and make everything around itself spontaneously burst in flames?"

Satomi couldn't resist a small chuckle. "Stiles, as old as I am, there are many things out there that still remain a mystery to me."

"Terrific," he sighed, but jumped back before he bumped into his father.

"What are you doing here?" the Sheriff asked before looking at everyone else. "What are you all doing here?"

"Dad, you gotta leave the body, okay?" Stiles said to him. "Leave it and let whoever wants to take it just take it. Okay, trust me."

"I'm doing my job Stiles."

He then started to walk away but Stiles moved after him.

"Yeah, you've been real busy. Arresting people you know are innocent."

"Go home, now. All of you," he said, pointedly at the people behind his son.

He then stepped into the elevator but Satomi moved her hand and grabbed at the door, to keep it from closing.

"Sheriff," she said calmly. "I'm afraid I must insist that I see that body."

"Why?" he asked her.

"Because dad, there's a good chance that the girl up there is the one that had been stalking Satomi's home. And probably had something to do with the death of the Second of her pack, Wilson Grant."

"Yes, I believe I made a report to your station last week. Isn't it part of your job to pursue all leads?" Satomi pressed.

The Sheriff was silently looking at the two of them for a moment before he huffed and took a step back. "Fine, five minutes."

"I'm going too," Stiles said, stepping into the elevator.

"Stiles-" Noah started.

"Your son should come. I will need his help with verifying something," Satomi said, insistent.

Noah let his head droop a bit but found himself conceding. "Okay, but that's it. Just you two."

Satomi looked back at Brett, Lori and the others. "Keep an eye out, but don't do anything reckless," she instructed them.

They nodded and moved off to wait in the lobby's reception area. As the doors closed, Noah looked at a passing nurse's key card hanging off a lanyard.

"Hey Stiles, Clark, she mentioned something about, uh, key cards for the library. Do you all have after hours access?"

Stiles looked over at his father a little nervously. He can think of only one reason why his father might be asking about that. "Yeah," he quickly shrugged. "Yeah, we do. I'd show you mine, but, I lost it a couple of weeks ago."

Stiles then dropped his gaze from his father to look over at Satomi, who was looking right at him. That made him move and look away. Both Noah and Satomi knew, in their own special ways, that Stiles had just lied.

The Sheriff escorted them in the morgue, where Parrish was still on guard inside. He told them which one was the body and wheeled it out.

"Could you give us a few minutes alone Parrish?" Noah asked his deputy.

"Of course." He then moved to leave without another word.

Stiles looked over at her face and saw that it was exactly like what he had seen in the Event Scar. He looked over and saw that Satomi was staring down at it, stone faced. "Is she the one?"

She nodded, not taking her eyes off the girl's face. "Yes. She's definitely the one I saw staking out my house. I remember her scent."

"Can you tell if she killed Wilson?" he asked her a little hesitantly.

"Wait," Noah suddenly said. "You can actually tell something like that?"

"An Alpha has an instinctual link to their betas," she started explaining. "Especially to ones we've bitten and turned. Not only did I turn Wilson but I made him my Second, the next in line to receive my power should I die or decide to give up my position. The bond would be exceptionally strong. I would feel if I was staring down his killer. I don't feel that I am right now. But, I'm still picking up a bad vibe off of her."

"What does that mean?" asked the Sheriff.

She sighed. "It means that while I'm sure she is not directly responsible, she is connected. And there is a way to find out how. Stiles," she said turning to him. "I need you to try and feel for any scars on her."

"What? How? Where?"

Satomi moved to pull on the drape and expose the girl's right clawed hand. "Right here. At her claws."

"Why there?"

"Because, if she had managed to claw anyone who was fighting for their life, the feelings of self-preservation, rage, desperation and fear, would have left a scar on her claws. Not just from her intended victims, but from herself as well. Her emotions would've been great in those situations, especially given her age. Emotions are always higher and purer with youths, especially children. So please, try."

Stiles let out a deep breath. "Okay."

Satomi moved Stiles over and began directing him with his father, silently but tensely watching from the side.

"Keep calm and concentrate. Focus on looking for the scars made by the emotions like you would focus on the chemo signals off a person or area."

Stiles ran his hand over the girl's cold skin of her hand, slowly moving his fingers over hers and then starting to go down on her long, thin claws. Suddenly, Stiles' eyes widened as he saw the girl in a dark lit school hallway. And he saw her make a swipe and slightly graze her target in the arm. Wilson. Stiles could feel the desperation and rage in the air. As well as a good bit of fear from this girl at fighting against a strong werewolf. He saw Wilson give the girl a kick to stomach, making her tumble and move to intercept another attacker. Donovan. Who was as full as rage and desperation as them. And hunger.

The dark hallway faded and he found himself in Scott's kitchen, watching this girl's claws meet Kira's sword as they fought. The air was thick with rage, desperation, fear and determination. It lasted for only a moment, because then house faded and Stiles was out in the woods. He watched as this girl raise her clawed hands up to shield herself from a wolf pouncing at her and biting down on her claws with its fangs. Desperation and…lust abound.

Stiles then gasped as he was snapped out of it and back in the morgue. He pulled his hand away and tried to catch his breath.

"Stiles? You okay?" his father asked.

"What did you see?" Satomi asked, right after.

Stiles shook his head as he straightened himself up. "Uh, I saw…fragments. There was more than one scar. But, I did see one left by Wilson. She was attacking him at Devenford."

"Did you feel anyone else there?" she asked.

Not trusting himself to say anything, he shook his head.

The Sheriff then told them that their time was up and they had to leave. After securing the body, Satomi thanked Stiles for his help and told him to immediately notify her if they found any sign of Liam and Hayden and she would do the same. As she was heading for the elevator, she was passing by the deputy from before. Parrish. He seemed to be heading back for the morgue. Yet, as she passed him, she felt a rush of hot and humid air. She stopped and looked back at him as he kept on his way.

After excusing himself, Stiles went to go sit on a bench in the hallway. Stiles had seen Donovan. He had been attacking Wilson with this other chimera. He started to recall what he had said when he was taunting him at the library. About having already eaten another werewolf. Had he been Wilson's killer?

At that, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his school ID card. His father had asked about it. The school's computer would've registered him using it that night. Was he already looking into it? Well, he knew he could've have this on him so he went and just threw it into the nearby trash can. He let out a huff as he ran a hand across his sweaty brow. After a moment, he realized he was sweating not from nerves but because he felt hot. Very hot. And as a nurse passed by, fanning herself with a clipboard, saw that he wasn't the only one. Then he heard a scream.

Noah was still a little thrown by everything that had happened. He wasn't sure if he understood everything that happened with his son moments ago, but he couldn't help but start feeling that something quite serious was happening with his son. Even by werewolf standards, if Satomi's reactions were anything to go by. It looked like Stiles had been spacing out when he'd been looking for those…scars, or whatever. But the Alpha seemed almost mystified and, awed at him. Noah then found himself moving to open his shirt a bit and fan himself.

"Hey Clark," he said flagging his deputy down "Can you check to see what's wrong with the air conditioning? I'm pretty sure a morgue is supposed to be cold."

"Right Sheriff," she said heading off.

He let out a deep heated breath before he reached for his radio and started to do his check ins. However, none of his deputies seemed to be reporting in. Then, there was a scream just before the lights went out.

The deputies all started getting struck or tossed against the walls, all being rendered unconscious. Clark was grabbed and screamed before she was thrown down the hallway, knocked out. She skidded to a halt, just before Stiles. He reached down, felt that she had a pulse and then ran off for the morgue. He could see a bright light coming from the door's windows. Just like the one on the video. He moved to pull the door open and suddenly a wave of heat and fire went and struck him at the chest, sending him flying down the opposite hall.

Through the pain, Stiles blinked and lifted his head to look down the hall but could barely make it out. His vision was a little out of focus but he could still just make out a figure, shrouded in...flames. It was carrying a bundle in its arms, the body. It was the body snatcher. It had come and gotten what it was after. Within the fire, there were two glowing pairs of light, fiery orange eyes, and they seemed to be looking down at him. It lasted only for a moment before the body snatcher kept heading off. Stiles blinked, gaining focus just a second before the snatcher left his sight, but a second was enough for him to see. See who was stealing the bodies. Stiles then sighed as he let his head fall flat to the floor, hissing as he felt the burnt cuts on his face starting to quickly close themselves up.

Noah was panicking as he headed for the morgue. He was yelling desperately into his walkie, trying to get anyone to answer.

"Clark? Parrish? Anyone?"

There was nothing but static. He came across one of his deputies lying on the floor, knocked out, and he rose his shotgun, pointing it down the hall as he moved towards the morgue.

"Sheriff," he heard, suddenly behind him. He turned around and saw that it was Parrish.

"Parrish, what the hell is going on?"

"I think I saw the suspect," he said to him.

Noah couldn't help but think that Parrish was sounding off. Something was wrong with him. But he couldn't think too much on it as he began to hear his son calling out for him.

"Dad?" Stiles called out. "Dad!"

"Go get your son Sheriff," Parrish told him. "You're going to need him. Just as much as he is going to need you. And soon," he said, cryptically with a blank expression on his face. With that, Parrish began walking off, leaving the Sheriff there.

Noah stared after him for a moment before he turned around when Stiles staggered in from around the corner. There was soot on his face along with some red spots, and a big black burnt spot on the chest area of his shirt, like it had been caught on fire but quickly put out.

"Oh my god, Stiles, you okay?" he said, rushing over for him.

Stiles nodded. "I'm fine. But dad, the body. It's gone."

The two Stilinski's rushed into the morgue and their eyes fell to the open locker. The metal slab was out but the body wasn't on it. Just like at the animal clinic, there was black soot and ash everywhere around where the body had been placed. Another chimera's body had been stolen.

* * *

Seeing Zach get taken like that had really spooked Liam and Hayden into silence. They didn't know what had happened to him, but they could guess that it wasn't anything good. And they had to wonder if either of them would be next. They don't know how long they sat there like that, but they then heard noises coming from the entrance.

"They're coming back," Liam gasped out.

They moved to get to their feet, but it wasn't easy. Hayden was still hurting from her wound and Liam still felt a little fatigue in his body from getting zapped earlier. He knew that he wouldn't be able to put up any real fight against the Dread Doctors but he would fight. To keep Hayden safe. Their hands met each other, and they quickly moved to take hold on to the other. Liam moved to try and shield her as the noise got louder, and they began hearing footsteps.

"Liam? Hayden?"

It was Theo. And he was heading straight for the door. The still electrified door.

"Theo! Wait, don't!" Liam shouted, trying to warn him.

But Theo grabbed the door and got shocked and pushed away. He seemed to be knocked out. Liam shouted out at him, desperate for a reaction, any reaction, and after a moment, Theo started to stir.

"Theo, you okay?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah," he grunted out. "I'm okay." He then moved to try and pull himself to his feet.

"You bring help?" Liam then looked over, hoping to see a sign Scott or Stiles coming too.

"I am the help," Theo told him.

He then moved for the door again and fought through the electricity shocking him to try and pry it open. His eyes shifted out, along with his fangs, as his body was flooded with electric power. Sparks were flying off everywhere but Theo did not let go. With a final hard roar, he got the door open, freeing them.

After a moment of getting to collect himself, Theo led the two of them out of the basement and through the abandoned house, until they got outside with no further problems. It seemed the Dread Doctors had already left, probably when they had taken Zach. They got outside to see that the sun had gone down and night was starting to fall. Liam and Hayden got themselves into the back seat of Theo's truck as he started to drive them over to Scott's house. He left Scott a message, saying that he had found them and they were all safe.

"Theo," Liam suddenly said. "Thanks," he said, almost tirelessly.

Theo could see that Liam was very grateful for what he had done. So grateful, that any mistrust that he had about him before was all but gone. Just as he had hoped.

"Hey," he shrugged like it was no big deal. "You would've done the same for me."

Liam leaned back into the seat, feeling more settled and calm than he'd been feeling for over a day. He can already feel his strength and power starting to come back more the further away from that place they got. Hayden, however, was grunting and shifting about a bit as she looked back at her wound, still wet with black blood.

"Still hurts?" Liam asked her.

"Everywhere," she hissed. "I'm not healing. Not like I did before. That means, I'm a failure, doesn't it?"

Liam quickly moved to grab a hold of her hand. He started to focus and the veins in his hand started to run black as he felt a sting of pain. Hayden's face softened a bit and the two of them caught each other's eye. Suddenly, before either knew it, they started leaning closer until they found themselves catching each other's lips in a soft kiss. As soon as they touched, the veins in his cheeks also started running black. It lasted for a moment but Hayden then pulled away, her face free from pain. She then lifted her shirt and found that the wound had closed itself up.

"It's gone. The pain, my wound, it's all gone," she panted out joyously. "How did you do that?"

"I…I don't know," he shrugged, but was smiling.

He then started to lean in to try and kiss her again but Hayden leaned back a bit.

"Maybe…we shouldn't. At least, not yet," she said softly to him.

Liam blinked his eyes in confusion for a moment, before a certain blonde girl's face came back to him. Lori. "Sorry," he said, nodding his head in embarrassment. "I…maybe I shouldn't have done that."

"No, no, it's okay. Just, can hold me for now, please?"

Liam moved to pull her into him, letting her rest up against his chest, while he moved to plant a soft kiss on top of her head, and then moved to stare out the window. The whole thing was being watched by Theo. He let himself smile a little bit but it wasn't because he was happy for those two. It was because, tonight had yielded a very intriguing, unexpected benefit that he hadn't been counting on.

It wasn't long before they made it to Scott's place and Theo helped Liam and Hayden inside, where they quickly moved to rest on Scott's couch. That was the way Scott, Malia, and Mason found them when they had walked inside when they returned after getting Theo's message.

Scott felt the weight on his chest leaving him completely as he saw them there, safe and sound. Theo was standing off to the side, watching them, and Scott quickly moved over and wrapped him up into a grateful hug.

Mason then went over and gave Theo a hug as soon as he and Scott separated. He had his best friend back and he was ever so grateful to the guy for getting them back.

As soon as they separated, Theo looked over at Malia. She was smiling softly at him and moved over to into his waiting arms. Malia felt her nerves starting to settle as his arms started tightening around her, making her better feel his warmth, body and better breathing in his scent.

Lydia put a blanket over the two sleeping sophomores, before she looked up in time to see Theo and Malia's hug. The nagging feeling from before, when she had caught the two staring at each other before they all left, came back.

Stiles had gotten the message that Liam and Hayden had been found, by Theo. Despite everything that had just happened at the hospital, he rushed over to see if they were alright. As soon as he got to Scott's street, he noticed Scott, Malia and Mason heading inside the house. He parked his jeep, but left the engine on, afraid he wouldn't get it to start again, and ran for the front door. As he crossed the window, he looked inside, just in time to see Malia rush over and pull Theo into a hug. For a moment, Stiles could swear, Theo noticed him watching and started smiling smugly and squeezing Malia more possessively when he did, but for a moment before they pulled away. Stiles found himself stepping away and going back to his jeep, not wanting to go in there right now.

* * *

It had gotten completely dark by the time Virgil made a turn and caught sight of his apartment building from his Sudan. Well, his grandmother's Sudan. Although he loved taking his new bike out every chance he got, he still took his gran's car out from time to time. That and he had just been on a grocery run and his bike wasn't the best choice for that. He pulled into the apartment building's outdoor private parking lot and took a minute after he parked the car to lay her back into the seat and rub at his eyes.

Virgil could barely sleep after he got home from the garage last night. He kept hearing the sound of the gun firing off and that screaming echoing in his ears. And it came from the tarot cards. Specifically, the Five of Swords card, which hadn't been the first time that card freaked him out. It was the same card that came out as the soul card from that guy he saw near the cemetery two weeks back. He remembered being freaked out then too. Not the soul card of a good and safe person to be around. Yeah, sure, his gran's deck sometimes tended to be weirdly accurate on a couple of things ever since he was a kid but it was always in an amusing and fun kind of way. Like a game of pretend that never seemed to get old. But, lately, it's been making him get a weird feeling. And he didn't like it. Well, he just hoped a night binge watching Game of Thrones while chowing down on his favorite snack combo of grapes and cheese balls would help him feel better.

Suddenly, some feathers went and landed on his front window, making him blink out of his thoughts. He leaned forward, but didn't see any birds. Then he shrugged and decided that he should get his things and get inside already. Just as he moved to open the back door of the car to start grabbing the grocery bags, there was a loud bang followed by low chimes of glass hitting the floor and loud alarms sounded. Virgil jumped back and looked over to see that it had come from the car parked right next to him. There was a body on the top of its hood, stirring in a small impact crater dented into it.

It was Zach.

After he had escaped from the Dread Doctors and flown off, he freaked. He didn't know what was happening or what he was doing. He just kept climbing higher into the air, flapping his new wings, freaking out. After some time, he managed to get some handle on how to use them and found himself heading home. The sun had fully set when he began hovering over his apartment building. Seeing something safe and familiar, he let out a sigh of relief. For the first time since he'd been captured, he let himself smile. But it quickly fell when he noticed that feathers were starting to fall as he let himself descend. His wings were starting to…molt. Its feathers started falling away and then a hard wind blew right at him. Zach found himself starting to jolt about and was losing control. He began spinning in the air as he was heading down to the ground, fast. As Zach's panic rose, his wings started to shrink and shift away into his back. He shot passed the roof and was going for the ground. There was barely time to let out a scream before he just managed to maneuver himself to crash onto a car instead of the pavement in the building's parking lot. When he crashed, the impact went and shattered the car's windows and started to set off the alarm. As he groaned in pain, what was left of the wings on his back vanished and he turned over to fall off the hood and landed back first onto the pavement.

Moving to look down at him was Virgil, panicked and freaked out about what just happened.

* * *

With Liam now safe, Scott got on his bike and moved to go and visit Kira, so he could give her the news. But, when he got there, he found that she was in the process of packing up her stuff. Her family was leaving Beacon Hills. She then started to explain what happened to her when she had finally read the book.

"I remembered. It was the night of the traffic jam. I don't know what they did, but they did something."

"Then, it's not your fault," he said, letting a little relief set in.

If the Dread Doctors did something to her way back then, it explains why Kira had been starting to act this way. It was because of them that she was getting driven to kill.

Kira didn't look at him. She kept on packing up her stuff. "We still need to fix it. And I don't think the solution is here."

"What about your dad?"

She finally turned to look at him. "There's no body. They had to let him go."

"Kira, I don't want you to leave."

"And, I don't want to hurt anyone. Especially you."

"You're not going to hurt anyone," he told her. He wouldn't allow it.

She shook her head. "Scott, look at me. Look at me with your other eyes. Tell me what you see."

Scott blinked for a moment before he moved to stand closer to her. He then shifted his eyes, letting his crimson eyes show, and they widened. Kira's aura was different. The fox inside her seemed…wilder. And more menacing then he remembered seeing it. Despite himself, Scott couldn't help but feel a little scared of it.

When she had everything, Kira moved to head outside where her parents were already waiting for her in their car. It was pouring hard but both Scott and Kira weren't bothered by it. They took a moment to stare longingly at each other before they moved to give each other a kiss. A kiss goodbye. Despite not wanting to, they then separated and Kira got into the car and the Yukimuras started driving away. As they left, the lights around Scott started to short out and explode, sending sparks everywhere, but Scott hardly flinched. He just watched the car drive further and further away.

* * *

Deaton had been knocked out but he came too and found himself tied and bound to a chair with a flashlight shining down on him. He spotted his captor behind the light, staring down at him, with her rifle hanging lazily around her shoulder, fully loaded and ready. Though Deaton kept his composure and remained calm, despite the grim circumstances. That seemed only to amuse Corrine.

"I see that you do your reputation justice Alan. Always stoic and firm in any crisis."

He calmly rose his gaze to catch her eye. "I do what I can," he said calmly.

"They also say you're out of retirement."

"Semi-retired," he said, again with the same calm.

"Hmm, well you probably should've gone all the way."

She then went to bring out a small bag. Deaton recognized it as his. The one he left in the truck. That was being watched by the others.

He sighed as he realized what had happened. "You didn't have to kill them."

Corrine tilted her head slightly "No," she admitted before she shrugged and moved to pull out a small box from the bag. It had an eagle carved onto the lid. "And just where were you taking these?"

"Just to where they belong," he calmly answered.

She then smirked before she stuffed the box into her own duffel, making his gaze drop a bit. She moved to step a bit closer to Deaton. "Now then, I have it on good authority that you happen to have strong ties to the young man looking into me. Tell me, why does he seem to find me so fascinating?"

"I don't know. You'll have to ask him."

Corrine let out a small chuckle in response. "You know, there have been many rumors pouring out from that little hometown of yours the last two years. And one of them I've heard say that my daughter is still alive. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

"A daughter? I don't know anything about a daughter," he said in feigned confusion.

She moved to take her gun and bring it down to point directly at him. "Oh, I hope not. Because then I would have to kill her again. Her, and anyone that gets in my way."

* * *

A/N: Things are getting to the inevitable climatic meltdown. The next chapter will be an original and have some old faces returning. I can't wait for you all to see it.


	23. Breaking Through

Chapter 23: Breaking Through

Melissa McCall had finished bandaging up some of the heavily hurt deputies from whatever it was that had attacked them to steal the body. A part of her couldn't help but not be too upset. She overheard the Sheriff speaking with Clark. Since there was no body, there was no evidence of Kira killing anyone, or her father. Mr. Yukimura would have to be released. Noah had noticed her watching them and they shared a silent but tense moment of just staring at one another. Clark was in between them and quickly became uncomfortable. She was spared it going on for too long when a call came in on the comm and she jumped to answer it.

"Sheriff," she said after a moment, when she was done. "Something's happened."

Noah and Melissa broke their eye contact to look over at her.

' _What now?'_ they simultaneously thought.

Soon enough, a gurney was rolling on through the halls of the hospital with Zach lying on it. Melissa moved over to it was wheeled in.

"What have we got?" she asked them as she helped pull the gurney down the hall.

"A suicide jumper, I think," one of the EMT's said to her. "Went and landed right on top of a car, smashing almost clean through it."

"Alright, let's get him to OR," she told the others.

Over in the lobby, Virgil was being questioned by Deputy Clark.

"Are you saying he jumped from the roof?" the deputy asked him, with a notepad ready.

"Maybe, I'm not sure," he said to her.

"Did you see him actually jump? Or maybe someone pushed him?" she questioned him.

"I don't know," he answered, with a shake of his head.

"Did you hear anything?"

"I don't know," he said again, with another shake of his head.

"Clark." Both of them looked over to see the Sheriff approaching. "It's okay. Let me talk to him."

She nodded and walked off, leaving the two of them alone.

Virgil let out a small breath of air but nodded over to the man. "Sheriff Stilinski," he said in a calm tone.

"Virgil Edelman," he said back, in the same tone. He stared at him for a moment before letting himself give a small smile. "It's been a while. How's my favorite young felon?"

Virgil narrowed his eyes a bit but his lips curved themselves into a bit of a smile. The two of them used to be very familiar with each other. Back when he had first come to Beacon Hills over two years ago. The man had practically been his parole officer, checking in on his progress and making sure he stayed out of trouble during his senior year.

"Great to see you haven't lost that sense of humor of yours Sheriff," he quipped.

Noah let out a little chuckle before he sobered up. "Uh, I don't think I ever had the chance to tell you that I was sorry to hear about your father and grandmother."

The two of them were among the cases Noah had reviewed back when he had his revelations regarding the supernatural. They had been caught in a mild traffic pile-up caused when a 'man-lizard' had run across the interstate.

"Yeah, right," he mumbled to himself, though it was still loud enough for the Sheriff to hear him.

"Uh, hey, I hear you've been working over at Armor Auto. How's that been going?"

"Makes me wonder some days if prison would've been so bad," he said dryly.

The man didn't know if Virgil was serious or just trying to be funny. He then cleared his throat as he felt that it was time to move this along. "So, you mind telling what happened tonight?"

"Uh, I was just coming back home from a grocery run and, out of nowhere, there was a crash and I see that the car next to me in the lot, tin foil. I went to take a closer look and saw that there was a guy lying there on the hood, looking like he had dived bombed on it."

"Do you happen to know who he is?"

Virgil nodded. "Yeah, I recognized him. We were part of the same graduating class last year. And he lives in my building, two floors down, so I sometimes see him now and then. I think his name is, Zach."

"Do you really think that Zach is the kind of guy who would go to top of his apartment building and just jump?"

"I don't really know enough about the guy to say anything. But I do know and understand enough about cars to know that he couldn't have done that kind of damage unless he fell on top of it from a very good height."

"Well, thanks for your help. Hey, for all you know, the fact that you called 911 and helped him get to the hospital so quickly made all the difference."

"I didn't really do anything Sheriff," Virgil said, shrugging the whole thing off.

"Still, I think that Zach would appreciate what you did for him."

"Yeah well, no offense Sheriff but appreciation is overrated. I could do without it."

Virgil then turned to get ready and head on out but Noah stopped him.

"Virgil," he said sternly, making him stop but not turn back around. He kept talking to his back. "I'm afraid that I'm going to have to ask you stick around here for a little while. Just for some follow up questions and to give an official statement. You are a material witness." Virgil's form deflated a bit and though his back was still turned, Noah could see the kid was aggravated. "Look, I'm not going to pretend that I know or understand what you've been through these last few years. But, what I do know is, through this rebel without a cause attitude you like to have, you want to be a good kid."

That made Virgil roll his eyes as he turned his head to look slightly back at the man. "Yeah, well, my dad always said that it often doesn't matter what we want. We're stuck with what we got."

* * *

In the forest, Jordan Parrish was slowly moving through the woods, the body of the chimera Courtney swaying slightly as he carried it his arms. His upper torso was blackened by soot and ash and his eyes had a faint orange glow to them. Staring ahead with a trance like expression on his face, he was not thinking about where he was going or what he had done at the hospital. It went that way until he came upon the giant, old and sacred tree stump. He then went and set the body down at the base of it before he went to sit right on top of it. As soon as he sat, his body seemed to get enveloped by a thin layer of flames and his whole body began to glow as bright as his eyes.

Those eyes then looked down at Courtney and he could see her role in the death of the werewolf Wilson Grant right before he saw her demise. Getting struck down by Kira's sword. He then looked over at the body lying next to her, Lucas. Flashes of the chimera's attacks on Corey, Brett and Lori Talbot, Liam, Scott and Kira played out in his mind before they went to his death at the hands of the Surgeon's cane blade. Further up from that body was the body of Belasko, the chimera that attacked him. Jordan was calmly recalling his attack on him, as well as his attempt at killing Scott before seeing the deranged man's death at the hands of the same caned weapon that killed Lucas. After turning his head slightly, Jordan looked down at the body lying directly to his right, Donovan. He could see Donovan's hand in Wilson's death, and then his demise when he tried to kill and devour Stiles.

There were a half a dozen more bodies to be found scattered about. Each one, brought by him there and he could see all of the deaths that they caused or attempted, as well as their own, as his eyes scanned over each one of them. Jordan didn't lose his composure as he calmly sat there, gazing out into the darkness. He knew that this was just the beginning. Soon, there would be far more bodies lying here. A sea of them. It wasn't a question of if, but when. And, it still wasn't clear yet, by whom.

* * *

Melissa felt completely tapped by the time she stepped into her home. She moved to take off her bag and place it on her kitchen counter. Inside was the file she had taken from the hospital's file room. A part of her couldn't believe she actually took a file like this but she remembered everything she told the Sheriff about bending. It looked like things were pushing her to follow her own advice. Stiles wouldn't have asked this of her if it wasn't important, she knew that. Melissa sighed as she put it firmly back in her bag and went upstairs to check in on Scott. Knowing he wouldn't be asleep, she knocked and then opened the door to find that he was awake and sitting off in a corner of his room,

Scott didn't know how long he had been standing there, in the street, watching out from where Kira had driven off with her family. When he finally got home, he didn't even change out of his wet clothes. He let himself stew in everything that had been happening with his friends. Kira was now gone. Liam was taken, along with Hayden, and he couldn't find him. And it seemed that all he and Stiles ever do anymore is argue and fight with each other. He looked up when his mom stepped into his room with a concerned look on her face.

"Sweetheart, everything okay?" she asked him.

She had to ask that. Of course everything wouldn't be okay. Not after everything that happened with Liam, Hayden, and the attack at the hospital.

"Something's changed," he muttered.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure. Something's different. With my friends. All of us. Something's changed…and I think it's because of me. I don't know how to fix it."

Melissa moved to bend down and sit next to him. She didn't say anything. She just moved to try and comfort her son. After about an hour of just sitting there, Melissa looked up to catch her son's eye.

"Scott, something has happened." She said hesitantly.

"What?"

"There was someone brought into the hospital. At first, it looked like an attempted suicide. It looked like he might've jumped off a building and he had landed right on top of a car. But, during the operation, we didn't find any trace of broken bones or tissue damage on him at all."

"Like he had healed himself," Scott said, following along.

She nodded. "Yeah, and I managed to find his medical history. Apparently, this boy had a bone marrow transplant almost six years ago."

Scott realized what this meant. "He's a genetic chimera. What's his name?"

"Um, Zach Powell."

Scott's eyes widened. "Did you just say Zach?"

* * *

Through the darkness, a black wolf was quickly darting through the back and front yards of suburbia until it stopped to look at a certain house. It moved to the back down and started to bat at the glass with its paws. A moment later, Maggie came over and opened the door to let it in.

"Your clothes are on my sofa," she said to it.

The wolf let its eyes glow blue as it stared right up at her before it padded over to the living room. Maggie moved to sit over at the kitchen as she heard some rustling in the next room over. A minute later, Derek was walking in, with simple jeans and a shirt, but barefoot. As he was adjusting his shirt, there was a second where Maggie caught a glimpse of his abs before he covered them.

"Hey, I never asked…how does it feel?"

"You mean, shifting?"

"Yeah. I mean, I've never met another werewolf who could fully shift other than your sister."

"You never asked her?"

"Uh, I was kind of embarrassed to ask her to be honest. So, does it feel like when you normally shift or is it completely different. I mean, I've seen werewolf movies like The Howling and it never seems to be a picnic for them."

Derek allowed a small smile to find its way onto him. "Well, I don't know what those writers drew their information from but its not like that for me. It's…kind of hard to describe. I don't think I can actually put it into words."

Maggie saw Derek start to retreat a little into himself. No doubt he was thinking about his newfound ability to fully shift.

"I called to check on Cora about an hour ago," she suddenly started up.

Derek moved to sit down on a stool opposite her from her kitchen counter. "She still upset?" he asked, unnecessarily.

"Of course," she said, with a roll of her eyes.

"Well, if you ask me, that Ruben guy isn't worth it. I never liked him."

"I doubt you'll ever like any guy that your sister likes, or likes her."

"If a guy will just drop a girl at the first sign of a baby like he did then Cora shouldn't waste time feeling sorry about that guy going."

"He's a teenager Derek. I mean, when you were his age, if you were seeing a girl and found out that she already had a kid, how would you have reacted?"

Derek tightened his jaw and then turned away. "I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"Fine, whatever," she sighed. "Let's talk your little covert walkabout. Did anyone see you?" she asked him.

He shook his head. "No. One good thing about being able to fully shift is that you are harder to detect, even for Alphas."

"The fact that you are a former Alpha also probably helps. What did you find out?"

"Well, the rumors you heard about Oscar meeting with another Alpha was true. They were on the edge of the woods, talking together. He was agreeing to Oscar's offer of an alliance."

Maggie scoffed. "Alliance? More like allegiance. He wants all the alphas and their packs to answer to him."

"Well, if that's the case then it's safe to say he's well on his way. How many does this make now anyway?"

"Including this one, seven. Seven packs along the northeast, if what Charlie said about the last meeting was true."

"Are you sure we can trust that guy?"

"Charlie is a decent guy. He was just turned against his will."

"Yeah, a lot of werewolves get turned against their will. That doesn't mean they were or are good and trustworthy." He knew plenty who didn't get bit by choice that were far from decent.

"Oscar bit Charlie over six months ago when he started scouting for recruits to expand his pack. He's actually started to adjust pretty well but he still feels something off about what Oscar is doing. So have I."

"What about your mentor, Darlene? She's his Emissary. What does she have to say about him?"

"Honestly, I think Darlene might be helping him. I mean, Charlie and the two other new betas Oscar turned all have had military backgrounds but I know he couldn't have tracked them down himself."

"You think Darlene pointed him their way. Helped him to exploit their backgrounds to fill his pack with stronger betas. Why would she even do that?"

"I don't know. Darlene has always been a private person for as long as I've known her but lately, she's been more…assertive. What do you think she or Oscar are even trying to do?"

"To take power. It's oldest and most powerful motivation in the world."

"Yes, of course Derek. But, why now? And why does Oscar seem to think that Cora and Jason might hold the key for him to get that power?"

He shook his head. "I don't know."

Maggie rose her eyebrows at him. "Really? You don't think it has anything to do with Jason's father?"

"What would make you think of something like that?"

"Derek," she breathed out shortly at him. "Please don't talk to me like I'm an idiot."

Derek let himself stare at Maggie for a while before he deflated. "Cora told you?"

"Yes, she did. Back when she was staying with me, before Jason was born. _She_ felt she could trust me," she said, pointedly.

Derek slid off his stool and moved to stand directly in front of her. "You're saying that I don't trust you?"

She crossed her arms. "I don't know, do you?"

Before either of them knew it, Derek grabbed Maggie and he pulled her in for a kiss. It was a toss up between who was surprised more. Maggie for Derek's impulsive action or Derek for his daring move. The kiss was a little awkward in the beginning. After all, they hadn't been like this since before Derek left to go to Beacon Hills after Laura had died. Before either could really relax into it, Derek pulled away. They took that time to just stare at each other.

"So…do you still think I don't trust you?" he asked after a minute.

She shrugged. "I don't know. I think I might still be on the fence about that," she playfully told him.

He smiled down at her. "Well, let's see if I can help you get over that fence."

Not a second later, they pulled each other in for another kiss. This time, they both were completely relaxed and given into it. Their hands were moving across one another's bodies and soft moans were escaping from them every other second. Before they knew it, Derek was carrying her into her room and then tossed her onto her bed. As he threw himself onto her, he froze for a moment as he stared down at her and Maggie took that moment to flip them over so that he was the one on the bottom and she was on top. Giggling, Maggie moved to grab Derek's shirt and pull it up his torso. He then pulled himself to sit up and yanked it off his head and tossed it to some unknown corner of the room before he moved to do the same to her top. They then moved to make out for a bit before they got more daring and then started to tug at each other's pants. Once they both managed to become fully naked, Derek let out a small, aggravated growl as he went and rolled them around so that he was on top, letting some leftover Alpha dominating instincts take hold. At the sound of the growling, Maggie froze but not out of fear, but of awe. She let her hands go up his firm biceps until they stopped and cupped at his stubbly cheeks. As they rested there, Derek let his eyes glow blue down at her and she let herself become entranced. They kept eye contact until when Derek went and plunged himself right into her. As he slowly drove himself in and out of her, Maggie's fingernails moved to grip his back and then ran down, leaving some softly bleeding marks with every thrust he made. It didn't stop him but instead urged him and his wolf to become more intense with her and he started to speed up his rhythm. The room and soon house began to fill with the sounds of hard moans and soft, wolfish growls that built up to their joined climax.

When they were finished, Derek and Maggie just stared up at the ceiling, sweaty and softly panting from their exertion. Derek felt the scratches from Maggie begin to heal and then moved to pull Maggie's head to his chest so that she could rest on him. As Maggie rested there, she let her right hand move and make small spiral movements on his stomach, which made Derek smile contently down at her, and he went and placed a soft kiss on her forehead before letting himself fall soundly asleep.

* * *

Virgil was reaching for his jacket as it had been left on one of the chairs in the waiting area.

"Excuse me, we were wondering which room belongs to Zach Powell."

That made Virgil look over at the reception desk and he saw two teens there. The younger one, he didn't recognize, but the other, him he knew. It was Scott McCall. He had been a scrawny sophomore at Beacon Hills High during his senior year. The only reason he remembered him was because he had been the boyfriend of Allison Argent. She had that huge scandal surrounding her after her aunt had killed all those people. It had pulled everyone's attention off him and unto herself for the rest of his year. He wondered why he was looking for Zach.

The receptionist took a moment to look at her screen but she then shook her head at them. "I'm afraid to say you're too late. He woke up about two hours ago and after he was given a thorough examination, he was fully checked out of the hospital roughly half an hour ago."

"Why are you asking about Zach?" Virgil said, coming up to them.

Scott turned to look over at him. "Oh, uh, I'm an old school friend of his. I heard he was sent to the hospital and just wanted to see if he was okay."

"Really?" Virgil doubted McCall was telling him the truth. The only real friend that he remembered him having back at school was the Sheriff's son.

Virgil's feelings of doubt and suspicion were becoming clear to the two werewolves.

"Who are you?" asked Scott.

Virgil couldn't help but be surprised that he didn't recognize him. After all, his coming to Beacon Hills High had been the hottest topic for months.

"Virgil, Virgil Edelman. I'm the one that found him."

Scott deflated a bit. "Oh."

"Now, what's the deal with you and that guy? Why do you want to see him so badly?"

A part of Virgil couldn't believe he was actually trying to defend a guy he hardly knew like this. Maybe, it was because since he was the one who found him, a part of him felt that made Zach his responsibility. That's how it had been back in the streets of San Diego.

"Look," Liam sighed. "He was with me and my friend not too long ago and we didn't know what happened to him. Then Scott told me that he was here, so I wanted to see him. He's only here for me."

Now the kid, Virgil believed.

"Well, Zach lives in my building. I can give you the address if you want."

"Thank you," Liam said gratefully.

After writing the address down for them, they went and took their leave from the hospital. As he stared at their backs, Virgil decided to pull out his tarot deck. He looked down at Scott McCall's retreating back as he shuffled and then drew the card from the deck that would be the young man's soul card. He then looked down at it and saw that it was The Fool, reversed.

"The Fool," he muttered.

Virgil's eyes then glassed over as he remembered the end of summer when he saw this card in this same position falling down on the floor, next to The Magician card. He then saw Scott McCall heavily making out with Allison Argent in a car. Then he heard a monstrous roar and a snake like man break out from a van and then run off into traffic, followed by the sounds of car horns and then a crash. Virgil gasped as he began wheezing and heavily coughing. His eyes were shut tight in pain as he had his right hand squeezing the space directly over his heart.

"Sir, are you alright?"

Virgil blinked and saw that he was on his knees, with a nurse and two others hovering over him.

Scott pulled his bike up in front of the apartment building and he and Liam hopped off and headed inside. Checking with the directory, they found Zach's apartment and went and knocked on his front door. The two of them waited for about ten seconds before the door opened.

Liam's eyes widened as he looked upon Zach. When Scott had told him that Zach was alive, he had been surprised. He and Hayden had been sure that he was dead when the Dread Doctors took him away. But now, he was looking much more healthier and livelier than he had been back when they were all locked away together.

"Zach," he muttered.

But Zach didn't seem to share in his relief. At the sight of Liam, Zach quickly moved to close the door and the two of them could hear him begin to lock in the bolts.

Scott went and gave the door a few bangs. "Zach!" he called out to him through the door. "We just want to talk to you!"

"Go away!" Zach shouted back.

"Listen, you might still be in danger. We can help you."

"I don't need or want your help. Now go away or I'll call the cops!"

Liam let out a heated sigh as he looked over at Scott. "Now, what do we do?"

Scott shook his head. "I don't think there's anything we can do for him right now."

* * *

Lydia stepped into the sheriff's station with a small bit of tension in her step. Her eyes looked around but she didn't see any immediate sign of Jordan anywhere. She didn't know what she would do or say when she saw him. Earlier this morning, Lydia received a message from Stiles, saying that he had to speak with her. When she went to his house, he then started to explain what happened to him at the hospital, during the attack the previous night. He had been knocked away by the body snatcher, but, had managed to get a glimpse of who it was.

"It was Parrish," he had said to her when she asked who it was. "He was lit up, like he was on fire. And his eyes, they were like little flickers of fire but, it was like he wasn't there. Almost like he was possessed."

Stiles then pulled out Parrish's name plate, partially covered with ashen soot. He claims that he had found it in the morgue but didn't tell his father about it or what he saw. As Lydia stared at it, she told Stiles that Jordan had confided in her that he'd been having dreams about himself surrounded by bodies. When he asked if he told her where this was, she told him that he did. The place was the Nemeton. And, she told him that Jordan had not just seen a dozen bodies with him. There were hundreds, spread out as far as he could see.

Lydia then told him that she had to go and see him though Stiles argued that it was a bad idea. Lydia quickly countered that it sounded like Jordan didn't know what he was even doing but Stiles argued that only made it even worse. They still didn't know exactly what Parrish was so they couldn't know what might set him off. He had already attacked a handful of deputies and he didn't want to risk anything happening with him working so close with his dad which is why he wasn't telling him about Parrish. But Lydia couldn't do it. She knew what it was like to have someone or something inside of her be in control.

"And so do you," she sternly said to him, making him relent.

However, Stiles asked her to not tell Parrish the truth, at least until they found the bodies and why he took them.

All the deputies were gathered together in front of the Sheriff's office and Lydia spotted Jordan towards the front. They were all listening to the Sheriff as he was holding up a small stack of papers that had survey questions on them. Stilinski start talking about how they were to question anyone that might have two sets of human DNA in their system for any symptoms such as black outs, sudden feelings of rage, or hallucinations. While most of the station seemed baffled by why they were being asked to do this, Jordan didn't. He knew that it was to find any genetic chimeras that might be possible targets for the Dread Doctors to make into supernatural chimeras.

Yet, as one deputy was given the questions, she froze as she looked at all the questions. Deputy Clark already knew of one person that had two sets of DNA. Her sister, Hayden. And recently, she has been acting a little off.

After they were dismissed, Jordan went for his desk and quickly spotted Lydia there, waiting for him. He smiled as he made his way over.

"Lydia, hey. What's brings you down here?"

"Oh, just wanted to check up on you." She then went and handed him a coffee cup. "And I brought you something."

"Thanks," he said, taking it from her. "I appreciate it but I'm fine. And thankfully, no one was too badly hurt at the hospital. How about your friends? Are they okay?"

"Liam and Hayden are a little shaken up but they'll be fine." Lydia then went to look over at Deputy Clark. "And Hayden's sister still doesn't know?"

"No," he said with a small shake of his head.

"Do you think she should?" she asked a little hesitantly.

"Honestly…I don't know." He felt there were a lot of pros and cons to Clark both knowing about her sister and not knowing. But he knew that the decision wasn't really up to him.

As Jordan moved to stare at Clark for a moment, Lydia stared at him. Should he know about what was happening?

He then looked back her way and noticed her staring. "What?" he asked, making her snap out of it.

"Oh, just, uh, the Sheriff called everyone for a meeting?"

"Yeah, Stilinski is just organizing a search in helping to look for more genetic chimeras. To see if we might protect them before the Dread Doctors get to them."

"Well, there can't be that many still out there, right?"

* * *

Mason let his eyes scan the illustration of a monstrous wolf attacking two crouching people in terror. He then laid it on the pile of documents he had printed and collected off the net and copied from tomes at a university library a county over. This research project that Stiles sent him on over a week ago, he had really gotten into it. More than he had expected. The legends of legendary monster and demonic wolves, he felt drawn in with every story and arcane passage he found. Every free moment he had, Mason was reading and working to separate fact from fiction. He had already found a lot of interesting stuff and was making a small note collection of his own with everything relating to The Beast.

A soft knock made him look over and see Liam standing there, looking somewhat dejected. "Whoa, I know that look," Mason mumbled as he closed his notebook.

"Can we talk?" Liam asked.

"Yeah, sure." The both of them then moved to sit at the foot of his bed. "So, what's up?"

Liam let his head droop a little as he twiddled with his fingers. "Uh, I think I might have a problem."

"You mean aside from the three scary mad scientists that are turning teenagers into monstrous chimeras?" he said, trying to make it all seem lighter than it actually was.

Liam let a small smile creep its way onto him before it quickly flattened again. "It's about Hayden."

Mason stiffened up. "What? Has something happened to her?"

"What? No, no," he said quickly. "Nothing like that. But, when we were rescued from that house, the two of us kind of…kissed," he managed to squeeze out.

"Oh," said Mason, widening his eyes. "Wow. Uh, wait, did she kiss you or did you kiss her?"

"Uh…well, we both kind of kissed each other. Though, we stopped right when we realized what we were doing. I kind of remembered…Lori."

"Wow." Mason didn't know what else he could say to that.

"I don't know what to do."

"Ahh, well, did you want to stop?"

"Stop what?"

"Kissing Hayden."

"Yes," he said quickly. Mason then stared at him and Liam found himself faltering. "No," he then said before he shook his head. "I don't know."

"Liam, do you like Hayden?"

"Uh…yeah, I think I do. But…I also can't stop thinking about Lori. I like her too." He then moved his face into his palms. "But, I don't want Hayden or Lori to get hurt," he said through his hands.

"Well, you're going to have to make up your mind because, from what I've read, wolves mate for life." That made Liam pull his face away, narrow his eyes and glare slightly at him. Mason raised his hands quickly in surrender. "Just a joke." He then sobered up. "Look Liam, the way I see it, you and Hayden had gone through something pretty intense the other day. You two didn't know if either of you would be getting out of there, especially after you saw that Zach guy taken away. It's easy for your emotions to kind of get away from you."

"So wait, you think me and Hayden kissing might've been some kind of…adrenaline thing?"

"Maybe. And it's not the first time this has happened. I mean, you and Lori first kissed as the both of you were upset with Wilson's death and she needed comfort."

"What are you trying to say?"

"Uh, well, you kind of have this whole knight in shining armor thing going on. Maybe you just take some time to think about who it is you really want, outside any grief or danger."

Liam didn't say anything after that. He just let his mind think about what his best friend just said. When it started getting dark, Liam eventually moved to head on back to his house. As Liam started running off, three figures started to slowly approach the house. The Surgeon took a moment to look up at the window to Mason's room.

* * *

School seemed to be dragging on and on these days. As Scott looked down the halls, he saw that no one seemed to be smiling. Everyone had dark and sullen expressions on their faces. It was like all of them were able to feel that bad things had been happening and were only going to get worse.

He caught sight of Hayden. She was talking with Liam but when she caught sight of him, she moved to head off down the hall, away from him, with Liam following after her. A moment later, he caught sight of Corey. When he noticed him, Corey turned and moved in the opposite direction. Scott could see that both of them were still angry with him. Hayden for being his bait and Corey for getting clawed by him. Truth be told, he didn't really blame either of them.

As he walked, he noticed Stiles moving down the opposite hall but he didn't seem to notice him. His mind seemed to be lost in intense thought. So much that when he made his way to class, he barely noticed Malia, and she barely noticed him. She was overlooking printouts of all the evidence gathered about the Desert Wolf. She had gone to Stiles' room and taken all those pictures while he had been out. Neither of them noticed Scott walk into the room.

* * *

Stiles was running through the woods, alternating between running on two legs and dropping to all fours. He was desperately trying to locate the Nemeton. He had to find out if Parrish had been the one to take Donovan's body that night at the school. He had been coming out here, alone, after school the last few days to try and find the bodies. So far, nothing. Still, a part of him was finding some peace and relief with the search. Just running and letting himself be lost in his speed and surrounding wooden scenery, both quelling the anxiety of both him and his wolf.

As he ran, his nose was going a mile a minute. After all, a stack of corpses had to leave a strong enough scent to pick up. Yet, even after many hours of trudging through the woods, there was no trace of the smell of death anywhere around. Stiles was starting to wonder if whatever it was that was protecting the Nemeton from being found was also somehow blocking the scent.

When the sun started to go down, Stiles stopped and then started to heave deeply as he let himself regain his breath. Suddenly, Stiles let out a growl just before he angrily threw a punch at a nearby tree, punching a chunk clean through it.

"Where the hell is that thing?!" he growled out to himself.

Days of this and Stiles was starting to feel that he was doing nothing but run around these woods in circles and couldn't help his sudden aggravation. Any release of anxiety he had done seemed to return all at once. Stiles then looked down at his knuckles, ready to see them split open, or at least bruised, but there didn't seem to be a mark on them.

Normally, Stiles would be surprised at this, yet, somehow, he didn't feel a single ounce of it. Like it was exactly as he expected. Maybe that was because he shouldn't be, especially after what happened the night at the animal clinic. When Stiles had caught his image in the window of his jeep, he had seen not his face staring back, but the appearance of a raggedy, furred wolf. He remembered seeing the same thing happen back at the Glen Capri, in a puddle's reflection, a year ago. Stiles couldn't deny it, at least not to himself. The Beast was starting to come back. But, there was a big difference this time. Last year, he had been terrified of what he might become that he had wished with everything he had that it wouldn't happen. But now, he found himself actually hoping for it to emerge. If he did become the ultimate Apex Predator of werewolves, he might just have the power they need to stop the Dread Doctors, and whatever 'Success' they were trying to make. That was why he asked Mason to research everything he could about any kind of werewolf legend that regarded the Beast. He needed to know everything he could so that he could quickly start controlling it when it did arrive. He knew it wasn't a question of if, but when. And his instincts were telling him that it would be soon.

Stiles guessed he should be heading back. He hadn't brought his jeep to take him out here. He was starting to get more and more worried about it. Recently, every time he wanted to use it, it took a couple of tries to start. It no longer started at the first turn of his key.

But he barely ran a few meters when he found himself stopping. His instincts had flared up and his eyes frantically started to scan the trees, his blue eyes shining through the darkness. If felt like he was being stalked. Stiles slowly shifted his claws out, extending them to their longer, deadlier form. Then his ears twitched when he heard a sort of electrical clacking in the air. A few seconds later, the three Dread Doctors started to move out of the shadows and into the dim light of the moon overhead.

" _Stilinski_ ," the Surgeon said through the mask, in his distorted voice

"What the hell do you want?" Stiles said, through his fangs.

" _The perfect catalyst_ ," answered the Surgeon.

He then pulled out a device that had a long needle at the end. The sight of it made a chill go down Stiles' spine and he felt goosebumps erupt all along his back. The Pathologist and Geneticist then started to move for him. Stiles quickly threw a punch at the Geneticist but he effortlessly caught his punch and squeezed it in his grip. Stiles let out a pained grunt as the Pathologist moved to grab Stiles around his torso and hold him in place. The Surgeon started to slowly approach, pointing his syringe device right at the young werewolf. Stiles tried to wriggle out of the Dread Doctors' hold but the Pathologist had a firm grip. The Geneticist took the hand he hurt and pulled to extend Stiles' arm out. Stiles realized that they seemed to be after his blood. Why, he didn't know, but he knew he couldn't let them take any. He moved to kick at the Surgeon's hand and the syringe flew off into the dark brush.

In the moment of surprise, Stiles then threw his feet back, pulling him away from the Geneticist's grip and making him and the Pathologist fall on their backs, with Stiles landing right on top of him, making him release his hold. Stiles then quickly flipped himself to his feet in time to see the Geneticist moving for him again. Stiles screamed as he charged and then threw himself at the Dread Doctor, tackling him and forcing him back into a nearby tree, dazing him. Stiles then dashed off, running as fast as he could, not looking back.

The Surgeon wasn't reacting. He just stood there, looking off in the direction that Stiles had retreated into. When the Pathologist and Geneticist were able to shake off what Stiles did to them, they moved to stand on either side of the Surgeon.

" _Unexpected_ ," said the Geneticist.

" _What now?_ " asked the Pathologist.

The Surgeon didn't answer right away. He kept looking off in the same direction for a few seconds before he tilted his head slightly. Finally, he responded. " _A minor setback_."

The Geneticist turned to regard him. " _Lunar Perigee is coming_."

The Surgeon straightened his stature back up. " _We'll have another chance_."

* * *

In his special office at the bureau, Raphael McCall was at his desk looking through a small mess of files he had amassed, all relating to a favor that his ex-wife asked of him. She claimed it wasn't really for her but for Stiles and that it would help in trying to keep Scott safe. It hadn't been easy but he though he put together a decent amount of information.

It wasn't as though he didn't already have a mountain of stuff already on his plate. He let his eyes fall on the tack board mounted on his wall. There were photos and documents plastered all over. This was a special side project that Raphael had been working on alongside Christopher Argent as a way to further protect his son and his friends.

A knock on his door went and broke him out of his stupor. "Come in," he called out.

The door then opened and it was none other than Chris Argent himself.

"McCall," he greeted as he moved to sit across from him.

"Argent," Raphael answered back.

"You left a message that you wanted to see me?"

"Yes," he nodded. He put the files for his ex down and moved over for his crime board. He yanked away a photo and handed it to him. "You recognize this man?"

Argent looked at the photo and he narrowed his eyes. "Yes, this Richard Baxter. He was a former hunting friend of mine. Last I checked, you arrested him after he and his men tried to kill Stiles at the Martin lakehouse earlier this year."

"Yeah, we had him in custody up until two weeks ago. During a prisoner transfer, it seems that he somehow escaped."

"Escaped? How?"

"From the looks of the transport and the guards, I would say that a small team of men intercepted it. Judging from the damage to the car and the wounds on the guards, they all were very familiar with firearms."

"There are quite a lot of hunters who are still in the wind. They could've gone to bust him out but I have to say, this a rather aggressive move, even for them."

"Well, it looks like its becoming a trend. Baxter isn't the only one who was sprung from custody. There have been four other cases of hunters you pointed us out too and arrested that are now out there again. And, if that's not all, a couple that we've had on surveillance had dropped under the radar, including the Calaveras."

"They've gone to ground."

"Any idea where that might be?"

Argent shook his head. "No. No doubt word has spread about my involvement. Any places and safehouses that I know about, no one will try to use any of them. And I recently got a call from Derek Hale. It seems that some of the werewolf packs in the northeast are organizing under a single leader."

"The timing, this can't be a coincidence, can it?"

"No. I don't know what exactly is in the works, but I can tell you one thing without a doubt, something big is brewing. And when its put into action, all hell is going to break loose."

* * *

Scott moved to the window of the animal clinic's front door and stuck a sign saying that they were going to be closed. This place was so…quiet. There weren't even any animals in the clinic right now. Before he left, Deaton had quickly sent notices for all their owners to come and pick up the animals he still had up, with some take home kits for the ones still under treatment. This was the first time in days that he had been in here. Even without wolfish senses, it was easy to pick out the leftover smell of smoke and ash that still lingered in the air. He hoped that coming here would've been a break from how everything seemed to be unraveling over the last few days but it seemed even here served as a grim reminder of what was happening. He went over to the supply closet and took out the pail and mop and began to wipe away all the burnt soot that was still smeared on the floor from when Josh's body was stolen.

He took a rag and wiped out the black soot on the medical table. Scott then felt a tickle in his throat and start to cough a bit but kept on working. Yet, it only got worse and he started coughing a bit more harder. His hand went to his chest as he started wheezing. He was having another asthma attack. He reached for the inhaler in his pocket but an ever harder coughing fit made his fingers fumble with it and he ended up dropping it. Scott tried to move for it but he fell to his knee as he kept wheezing. He closed his eyes and suddenly started hearing someone calling his name.

He then found himself on his feet, in this very room, staring down at the table that now had a dog being brushed, by himself. Or rather, a slightly younger version of himself. He saw that he had the same hairstyle he had at the start of his sophomore year. This other Scott didn't seem to notice him standing there at all. He was stood there, lightly brushing this dog's fur with a smile like he didn't have a care in the world. One that would be completely alien on his own face these days.

Both Scotts then heard the door chime. Scott watched his younger self move off to see who came into the clinic and he followed after him.

"Hello, what can we do for you?" his younger self said when he saw who had just walked in.

Scott's eyes widened when he saw who that person was. Laura Hale. Derek's older sister. And he wasn't the only one who's eyes widened. Laura seemed a bit stunned at the sight of him, the younger him, as if she was surprised to see him. Scott saw that his younger self didn't seem to notice but he did. It was as if Laura somehow knew him…but how? He didn't really know anything about her until Derek had told him. Then Deaton came by and froze slightly at the sight of her before he quickly sent his younger self back to work so he could talk to Laura alone in his office.

The next moment, Scott saw himself back in the clinic's med room with his younger self brushing the dog as Laura came out of Deaton's office. She approached him and Scott saw the younger him introduce himself before they started talking. It was pleasant talk and his younger self then started going on about lacrosse tryouts. The conversation soon started turning over to his friends and his younger self started telling her about Stiles and how he was helping and supporting him to try and make the team. When Laura told Young Scott that she wished him and Stiles luck in making first line, Present Scott felt a rush of air and he was back on the floor of the clinic's med room.

Scott was coughing as the inhaler was brought to his mouth and the medicinal air was pumped into his lungs. He looked up and saw that Theo was the one holding it up to him. Theo let his golden eyes glow as he stared right at him to help him breathe again. Scott's red eyes flared in response and he began taking bigger bumps, one after the other.

"Are you alright?" Theo asked him, pulling the inhaler away.

Scott let himself cough a bit before he nodded. "Yeah, I think so," he muttered. Theo then moved to help him up to his feet and Scott leaned down on the table. "What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you. You weren't at home so I tried here and I came in and saw you on the floor, your inhaler was out so I went and got it to you."

He let himself sigh a bit. "Thanks Theo." Scott then went and pocketed his inhaler.

"Another asthma attack?" Theo asked, unnecessarily.

"Yeah…no, not exactly," he said, shaking his head a bit.

Scott went silent as he let himself think about what had just happened. It was all just like what happened at the school during his asthma attack. What he had seen, that had all been a memory. A forgotten memory, one that was awakened from reading the Dread Doctors book. Scott had met Laura Hale, before she had been murdered by Peter.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

Scott cleared his throat. "I think…I just had another forgotten memory."

"What memory?" Theo asked curiously.

Scott then started to explain what he saw to Theo and the relevance behind it.

"I had actually talked to her, right here, and never realized. Even when I found her body, twice, I never recognized her."

"Well Scott, why would you? As far as you knew, she was just another visitor to the clinic."

"I guess," he shrugged. Still, he couldn't help but feel that he should've recognized her somehow. "Stiles would have though." He then deflated a bit as the thought of his friend came to him.

Theo found himself nodding. "Yeah, Stiles does have the mind of a steel trap. And, I have to admit, everything he can do with 'Event Scars', it's pretty amazing."

"Yeah, from what Deaton told me, it's a pretty rare ability among werewolves." Scott then stressfully started to rub at his eyes. "You know, sometimes, I just wish I had stayed home and not gone to the woods with him that night. Then I wouldn't have run into Peter Hale and none of this would probably even be happening."

Theo's face fell. "Yeah, sometimes, I wish I had noticed the time and had gotten home before that Alpha found me too. But, we're stuck with what we got."

"Well, what we've got is too much. From what Valack said, everything that's happening here is our fault. Because me, Stiles and Allison gave power to the Nemeton."

Soon enough, Scott found himself venting. He spoke about how things were with the people in town, the Sheriff and his search for more genetic chimeras, the situation with Parrish, how things were with Hayden, Corey and Zach, and how spread apart he and his friends were with each other.

"I know something's coming. And all I can think about is how good am I going to be if I can't even breathe?" he finished, slamming his hand down flat on the table.

Theo let out a sigh as it seemed that Scott was done with his venting. "You sound like you're trying to apologize."

"You came back looking for an Alpha. I guess I'm sorry that you found me."

"I'm not sorry," he shrugged.

"You still want to be in the pack?" Honestly, Scott didn't feel good about being in the pack himself right now, especially with him leading it.

"Scott, you're the True Alpha. I'm with you. For better or worse."

Scott let himself straighten up a bit. People had been already been hurt on his watch. He didn't want Theo to come in and become one of them. "Trust me, it's going to be worse," he said, trying to talk Theo out of it.

Theo lifted his eyes to meet Scott's. "I'm counting on it." He then straightened himself up. "After all, things only get worse before they start getting better. And I want to help make them better. Well, if you'll have me." Theo then reached his hand out to him. "So, what do you say?"

At that moment, as Scott moved to look Theo in his eyes, he let them shift into their golden yellow glow again. Scott found his own red eyes coming out, staring unflinchingly back. He then went to grasp Theo's shoulder, a gesture that Theo quickly copied. Both of them could feel a string of connection starting to bind them, one that normal people couldn't put into words or understand. But three others might.

From where they were, Stiles, Liam, and Malia all froze as they felt something down in their bones. An…addition. Malia felt a fulfilling warmth course through her. Liam felt a surge of power travel through his veins. And Stiles felt his blood run cold as a pit fell into his stomach.

Scott had officially made Theo a member of the pack.


	24. Lies of Omission

Chapter 24: Lies of Omission

Stiles went and moved to jot down fresh new notes on his crime board. They were all new facts about Theo. Things about his parents, his former home in Detroit and a few other notes about things that didn't add up like the lies about his alpha, things that didn't match up with what both he said and his parents had said, as well as some other small things that he noticed. He was missing something. He could feel it. It was like something that was in the back of his mind or on the tip of his tongue, something that was the breakthrough he needed for Theo's whole deal but it just wasn't coming to him.

"You're still up?"

Stiles snapped out of his focus and looked back to see his dad standing over at his doorway, watching him.

"Hey dad, I didn't hear you come in," he said before turning back to his board.

Noah went and took a couple of slow steps inside. "Honestly, I expected to come home to you already sleeping. It's already passed three. Don't forget, you still have school in the morning."

"I know," Stiles muttered. "But, I'm too wired to sleep."

Noah let a sad look overtake him. His son was too young to let things keep him up so much. He then let his eyes fall on the crime board, one side of it that Stiles had dedicated completely to Theo while the other had everything about the Dread Doctors and the missing bodies. "I see you still haven't given up on that," he said, a little pointedly. "Don't you think you should be focusing on the other more pressing problems?"

Stiles kept his eye on the board as he moved to make some more notes. "Yeah well, I guess I take a little of my dad on that department, don't I?"

That made Noah flinch for a moment. Stiles was clearly still quite upset with him. "It's been a couple of days since Kira and her parents left. Heard anything?"

"No, not a thing since they left. All we know is that they're going to try to help her get the fox in her back under control. Kira said that her mom knew a place but, from how it sounded, it might take a while."

"How's Scott handling it?" She was his girlfriend after all. It couldn't be easy, especially after what happened with his last one.

Stiles actually stopped writing and his eyes narrowed a bit. "Scott's…handling it."

Noah couldn't help but pick up some bitter anger in his son's tone. He was about to ask about it when he noticed the dirty bundle of one of his Stiles' button shirts on his bed. It was the one he saw him in earlier that day and there were fresh holes in it.

"What happened?" he asked, picking the shirt up to better show the tears along the shoulders and close to the chest.

"Nothing," Stiles shook away as he went to grab it from his dad and throw it into the waste basket.

"Stiles," his dad started but Stiles cut him off.

"Dad," Stiles almost shouted. But then he brought his tone down a bit and tried to talk back in a forcibly controlled voice. "It was nothing. Just ran through some pointed brush in the woods and got myself caught a few times. Really, I'm okay."

Noah knew that Stiles was lying. Something must've happened, something bad, He could feel it but Stiles just wasn't talking. Noah saw that his son was too upset and angry right now. He feared it had to do with him arresting his friend even when Stiles tried to do everything he could to talk him out of it. Things had gotten a bit quiet and distant between them the last couple of days. Noah feared that Stiles was starting to feel that he couldn't trust him now. He let his gaze go back to his son's board for another moment before he just left the room without another word.

But Stiles' anger had nothing to do with his father. As he went back to work, his mind was split on what he was doing and what happened at Scott's just over an hour ago.

" _The Dread Doctors attacked you?!" Scott hollered out as Stiles walked off passed him._

 _They were both in his kitchen and Stiles moved off to the living room where Liam and Theo were sitting. Soon after Scott and Theo had come back from tidying up at the clinic, the other two soon came knocking at his home, almost one after the other. Scott's outburst had them jumping to their feet._

" _How many?" Scott then asked._

" _All of them, I think."_

 _Liam's eyes widened. "All three of them?" He then had a brief mental flash of the three mad scientists that came for him and Hayden. "Are you alright?"_

" _I'm okay," he quickly assured him. "Hey, by the way, how's Hayden doing?"_

 _His face fell a bit. "Still freaked out about the whole thing. It's been hard to get any real sleep lately."_

 _Stiles nodded. He was sure that Liam wasn't just talking about Hayden. "Yeah, I'm not surprised. I'd never seen those three before tonight. They looked like the steampunks straight from Hell when they just came out of nowhere and surrounded me."_

" _What were you doing out in the woods all by yourself?" Scott gasped out._

" _What? Trying to find the Nemeton, what else," Stiles tried to shrug._

" _Without Malia or even Lydia?"_

" _Lydia decided to go with Parrish to try to talk to that Zach guy and Malia said she had homework. Besides, considering what happened, I'm glad they weren't there."_

 _Scott wasn't going to argue with him on that one._

" _Why though?" asked Theo suddenly, making them all stop and look at him. But Theo didn't notice because he was staring down at his feet, in concentration. "Why attack Stiles?" He then looked up and saw them staring at him and shook himself out of it. "I mean…it's just, the Dread Doctors only ever attacked us when we were in the way of them getting to one their chimeras."_

 _Scott nodded as he started to follow along. "But, Stiles found them out in the woods, all by himself. So, either he was close to where they've been holding out."_

" _Or they were_ after _him_. _" Theo finished. "Did they say anything during the attack?"_

 _Stiles narrowed his eyes. "What? You think the four of us had some kind of chat before they moved to try and rip me to pieces?" he said with savage sarcasm._

" _Stiles, relax," Scott stepped in. "He's just trying to help."_

 _That made Stiles scoff before sending an unsubtle pointed look Theo's way. "Yeah…right."_

 _Theo seemed to shrink a bit and began rubbing at his head in an uncomfortable fashion. Scott couldn't help but be a little embarrassed from Stiles' attitude. Liam, however, was too eager to notice how thick the discomfort was._

" _Stiles, wait, how did you get away if it was all three of them?"_

 _At his question, Stiles blinked over at Liam before his eyes moved over to Theo, who seemed as eager to know as he did. Scott was also curious. After all, just one of the Dread Doctors had tossed both him and Malia around at the hospital. How did Stiles handle himself against all three?_

" _I guess I got lucky," he simply gave as the answer._

" _But still, maybe Theo's on to something." Scott then looked over and shared a small look with Theo, who gave a small nod in response. "They might've wanted Stiles for some reason."_

 _Stiles noticed and quickly went to clear his throat. "Scott, can we talk?_ Alone _," he added pointedly._

 _Not waiting for an answer, Stiles went to head on upstairs. Scott told Theo and Liam to give them a minute before he moved on after him. They made their way to Scott's room and Stiles quickly closed the door once both of them were inside. Stiles then pulled out his phone and started playing his music app, turning the volume up high and leaving it by the door._

 _Scott quickly picked up on the growing anxiety his friend was giving off. "Okay, really? Since when do you do the whole 'talk to me, alone' thing?"_

" _Since now apparently," Stiles breathed out._

 _Scott let himself roll his eyes before he shook himself out of it. They were starting to move off topic. "Alright, what is you need to talk to me about,_ alone _?"_

" _First, swear you won't say anything. Especially to_ him _."_

" _Stiles," he started. "C'mon, you're being ridiculous."_

" _No, I don't think I am."_

" _What, you still don't trust him?"_

 _Trust Theo? Stiles could only say one thing to that. "Damn right."_

" _Stiles, Theo's one of us now. You're gonna have to start learning to-"_

" _Wait, wait," Stiles jumped in. "What do you mean, he's one of us now?"_

 _Scott braced himself. "I invited him to join the pack," he said softly._

 _Stiles blinked and stared for a moment. "You did what?" he asked, hoping that he had just heard wrong._

 _Scott then narrowed his eyes and started to speak a bit more sternly. "I made him part of the pack Stiles. Theo's my beta now. As much as you and Liam are."_

 _Stiles then started to spastically pace around the room. A few times, he tried to speak but words seemed stuck in his throat. After a minute, Scott calling out his name seemed to snap him out of it and regain control._

" _What the hell possessed you to do that?!" he all but hollered._

 _Scott then moved to give Stiles a slight glare. He didn't think that critique was right, when it was Stiles that was being so stupidly stubborn. Especially when Stiles had said that so loud, it could easily be heard over the music downstairs, even without super hearing. After what Theo did for Liam and Hayden, Scott felt the guy should definitely be given some benefit of the doubt now but Stiles seemed as determined as ever to stay in his untrusting stance. Honestly, Scott felt he was getting about fed up with it._

" _Stiles, it was my decision. I'm the Alpha of this pack, remember? The True Alpha. That means it's my call who becomes part of the pack, not yours. And you have to accept that."_

 _Downstairs, at the foot of the staircase, Liam was standing there, listening in. He didn't know why Stiles still thought Theo was bad. True, Liam wasn't too keen on the guy at first himself, but, he thought he'd already proven he was okay. He sure was thankful for what he did for him and Hayden. And if Scott wanted to bring him into the pack, he didn't see any reason not to. Liam went to give Theo, who was sitting in the living room, a hesitant look but the guy was facing away from him, looking up towards the ceiling, listening in as well._

 _The two of them were staring each other down a bit but Scott's expression softened when he again took in Stiles' ragged looking appearance and remembered what they really needed to talk about right now._

" _But we can talk about that later. Now, what happened when you were attacked tonight?" he said, hoping they could get back to the true issue at hand._

 _Stiles was still seething but he forced himself to push it down. "Okay," he sighed. "I'll tell you but only if you keep it between us," he said, dropping his tone lower._

" _Stiles," Scott tried, but he could see that Stiles wasn't going to budge. Not on this one. As annoyed this made him, Scott's curiosity won out. "Alright," he conceded._

" _Okay, the Dread Doctors… when I found them, it didn't feel like I just bumped into them. I…it looked like they might've been tracking me."_

" _So Theo was right."_

" _Yeah, whoop de doo for him," he sarcastically breathed. "Anyway, they had this syringe pump thingy and tried to force me down so they could use it. I think they wanted my blood."_

" _Your blood?" Scott hissed. "Why would they want that?"_

" _One of them, the guy holding it, he felt like the leader, he said something. Uh, something about wanting the perfect catalyst."_

" _What does that mean?"_

 _There was then a loud wooden creak sound that made both teen wolves look over at the closed door. That had come from the bottom stair where Liam had nervously stumbled onto as he tried to lean in closer to listen better. Over where he was sitting, Theo resisted the urge to slap Liam for reminding them that even from their room, in hushed voices, they could still somewhat hear from downstairs._

 _Stiles jaw tightened as he looked back over at Scott. "I think I already know. And, I think you might already know too," he said, pointedly._

 _Scott started to pale a bit before he went and shook his head. "No, it can't be. Deaton said…_ it _was gone."_

" _Yeah, but he said there was always a chance it might come back."_

" _Well, we got to stop it." Scott then took note of the lack of worry in Stiles. Instead, he felt…resolve coming from him. "You don't want to stop it," he realized._

" _Scott, it might just be the answer to finally stop the Dread Doctors and whatever it is they're trying to do with these chimeras they keep making."_

 _Scott then realized what Stiles had in mind and he stood up. "No. That's not the answer. We can't let that happen. I won't let it."_

" _Yeah?" Now Stiles stood up and practically got in his face. "And what exactly is the answer Scott? We find the Dread Doctors, and then what? What are we going to do? If you've already got your own plan to stop them then I would love to hear it right now."_

 _His tone was challenging and it made Scott glare right back at him. As they seemed to size up each other, Scott went and let his red alpha eyes loose. When Stiles moved to return the gesture, shifting his own to let their blue glow loose, Scott quickly averted his gaze. It was for barely a moment, but it was enough._

Next thing Stiles had known, he had gone and left Scott's room and stormed out of his house without another word. Stiles blinked the memories of earlier tonight away as he went back to work organizing his crime boards, especially Theo's. Call it a hunch or instinct, but he felt that he was running out of time.

* * *

Theo had just conquered a major stepping stone in his plan. He was now officially in the pack. Scott had brought him in. Honestly, Theo was not expecting it to be so easy when he went looking for Scott earlier. He had been slowly laying the ground work for weeks and had gotten a firm foundation in with saving Liam and Hayden, but even he was amazed at how quickly Scott was in bringing him in.

However, as much as he would like to celebrate, he knew it would be premature. He still wasn't quite in the position he needed to be in the pack for his final plan. Scott trusted him, yes, but he was still only one member, Alpha or not. Malia appeared to trust him. More than trusted him if what he hoped about what he felt around and from her was true. Liam is no doubt grateful to him after his rescue of him and Hayden. He was grateful to him and seemed to have lost all things that were averting from his trust. Kira was no longer an issue at the moment. Lydia…he wasn't sure about her right now. While he did help her back when she was attacked at the station, she hardly said anything to, or hung around, him. Either she's quietly being cautious or doesn't think too much of him. He might have to still do a little work on that one.

The real problem was Stiles. Not only is the guy dead set on figuring him out, he is also the pack's Second. Should anything happen to Scott, Stiles would become the new Alpha. Not only that, but he seems to have a strong tie to Satomi's pack, and they are on the lookout for him, even if they don't know that it's him they're looking for. While it seemed for the moment that Stiles was putting more of a focus on Parrish and the bodies that he's been taking, he would be a fool if he thought that the guy wasn't still keeping an eye on him. Thankfully, whatever was going on with him and Scott was starting to lessen his hold and influence with the rest of the pack. But Theo knew that he didn't have much time left. Not with the Surgeon and the others still on the move. Not to mention that it seemed they were holding out on him, on something apparently very critical about this particular werewolf.

He made his way into their underground lab and found that they were all there, already working on disposing of another 'failure' that was dead on their table, the Surgeon's cane stabbed right through its back. The Pathologist was extracting some fluid from their green tank and then injecting it into the Surgeon.

Theo decided to just come out and talk rather than wait for them to notice him, though he was sure they already had but didn't care. "Hey, I need more time." They didn't respond. The Doctors just kept working as if he hadn't just spoke. Theo was barely able to contain his aggravation. "Are you listening to me?" he barked. "I said, I need more time."

" _Perigee-Syzygy_ ," the Surgeon responded.

" _The Supermoon_ ," chimed in the Pathologist.

" _We'll know at the Perigee-Syzygy_ ," finished the Surgeon.

"And what about Hayden?" Theo asked.

" _Failure_ ," the Surgeon told him.

"No, no, no," Theo said quickly. "Not to me." He still needed Hayden around for a bit longer. She was the best distraction for Liam. And the best way for him to get Liam to be his trump card if he couldn't get around Stiles."

" _Failure compromises the project_ ," the Surgeon said, as he moved to roll back up his sleeves. " _Lacking subjects will be terminated_."

The Dread Doctors knew that even though Hayden's body had seemed to have stabilized, she wasn't improving at all. She was just another low class hybrid. A failure to their experiment and their ultimate goal.

But Theo wasn't done arguing. "Does your little project now include Stiles? You attacked him tonight. Why?"

" _Not your concern_ ," the Surgeon simply said.

"The hell it isn't!" Theo practically snarled. "If what you're doing is going to effect the others then it effects me. You owe me an explanation. I should get that at least."

The Surgeon and the others were unimpressed with his tantrum.

" _We owe nothing_."

"I've been keeping Scott and his friends out of your way. I did everything you wanted. Now, I need Hayden alive."

" _Inconsequential_."

"You promised me a pack," he said, almost brokenly.

" _We promised you nothing_ ," the Surgeon said, with absolutely no regard in his tone. " _You deserve nothing._ "

"To hell I don't!" Theo snapped as he stomped over, looking ready for a fight. At that, the three doctors started to slowly turn, as one, and look directly at him. Theo quickly lost his bravado at their reaction and found himself taking an involuntary step back. "Look…I still need Hayden. Just a little longer. Please," he said, almost beggingly.

The Surgeon was the one to move. He took a few steps forward, the eyes of his mask never leaving him. He was silent for a moment before he spoke a simple sentence.

" _Only until the Perigee-Syzygy_."

At that, the Surgeon took back his cane from the corpse of the failed chimera and then started to leave. The other two moved to follow, right behind him.

Theo now knew, he had to work even faster. He had less than two days left.

* * *

In her room, Cora was busy fine tweaking some last minute edits to her report before she had to hand in her report in less than three short hours. Her son was laying in his little basket bed nearby, lightly giggling at the mobile hanging overhead. Cora took a moment to send a small smile his way. Last night, Jason had been quiet and slept peacefully the whole night. In the last week, he'd done that for the last four nights straight. Which, of course, meant she had a peaceful sleep for the last four nights straight. Cora had read online stories about how babies were difficult to keep rested their first six to eight months. It seemed Jason was the average seven months.

She was snapped out of her thoughts when she started to hear the front door unlocking with her super senses. "Seems like your Uncle Derek is finally home," she said out to Jason before she left to go and see him.

When Cora laid eyes on Derek, she saw that he had a great big smile plastered on his face. As he moved to set two cups of diner bought coffee and breakfast out on the kitchen counter.

"Someone's in a good mood," she said as she made her way over to him.

Derek stopped humming but his smile didn't falter. "Hey Cora. How's Jason?"

"He's good. Just waiting for his uncle to come home."

"Yeah," Derek muttered, turning away from his sister. "Everything kind of ran late."

"Clearly. But, you look quite…well-rested," she said, suggestively.

Derek rolled his eyes before he turned to look back at Cora, who was clearly fighting a laugh. It was clear to him that she knew where he was last night. And with who. And…likely what happened.

"Want to tease me? Go right ahead little sister."

"Tease you? Are you kidding? I'm happy for you," she said, giving him a friendly sibling push at his arm.

"You are?"

"Of course. I love Maggie." Cora sobered a bit but still kept smiling at him. "And you deserve to have someone good in your life for a change."

Derek moved to envelop his sister in a hug. "Thanks Cora."

They then broke away and Cora shrugged her shoulders.

"You know, I think I like you better this way. If Maggie could make it so you look like you swallowed some happy pills, then maybe I should ask her to keep you over, or come over, more often. Keep you happy in more ways than one."

Cora quickly ducked to avoid Derek trying to give her a quick annoyed slap on the head.

After eating breakfast, Cora quickly ran upstairs to get herself ready for school. She moved to begin printing her refreshed version of her report when her phone started ringing. The name on her screen shocked her.

"Ruben?" she said into her receiver, surprised.

The guy seemed to have been avoiding her ever since he had stumbled upon Jason.

"Hi Cora. How have you been?" his voice asked.

"Uh, good I guess."

"Great. Well, I'm calling because, I was sorta wondering, if you might want to talk later. If that's okay with you," he added quickly.

"Oh, well…okay. Yeah, I'd like that."

"Great," he nearly shouted. "So, I'll see you at third period. I'll save you a seat."

"I'll be there." When the call ended, she thought that with a start like this, today just might be her day.

Ruben hung up his phone and took a long and deep relieved breath of relief. He was cutting it close. But, this plan should work. It had to…for his own sake.

* * *

Stiles was sitting off at a corner of the school hallway, calmly reading a ten page booklet full of notes. It was Mason's collection of research that he had asked him to do for him. When Stiles had gotten to school, Mason had come over while he was at his locker and given it to him, having just finished it last night. It was full of all kinds of things about the legendary werewolf, also known as the Beast. Mason had not only made notes, but included illustrations. Most were artist renderings and fan art that he clearly got from the internet but Stiles thought it added a fun bit of flair to it all. While a good bit of the stuff Mason collected Stiles already knew, there was quite a few things that he didn't. Next time he saw Mason, he would be thanking him. If he wanted to tap into the powers of the Beast to stop the Dread Doctors then he had to know everything he could so he could be ready.

Suddenly, he felt a twitch and Stiles looked over to notice that Theo was heading his way. He moved to throw the booklet into his bag and started to walk off, to try and get away from him. Yet, Theo moved to not lose him and catch up.

"Stiles!" Theo called out, speeding up to get closer. "Hey," he said as he got just three steps behind him. "I saw Scott come into school this morning. He seemed pretty upset you know."

"Screw you Theo. We're all upset."

"But I think Scott feels bad about whatever it was that happened last night. He says he needs to talk to you in the quad before lunch."

Stiles snorted. "Speaking and carrying out his messages and reporting back to him. That your new official position in the pack. Scott's lapdog."

Theo narrowed his eyes at him. "He said it's important," he said in an unsubtlety controlled voice.

"Yeah, well you're going to have to tell Scott that I said I'm sorry but I have something to do later."

"You mean sneak off to go and try to find the Nemeton by yourself again?" That made Stiles finally stop walking. He kept his gaze on ahead, not turning to face Theo. But he took that as a cue to keep talking. "He met up with Lydia earlier and she told him that she's going off to search with Parrish after they check in on Zach." After that, Stiles began to walk again, taking a sharp turn as he headed off for the library. "You do know that if they find the Nemeton first, they'll find Donovan. I know that's why you've been doing all this searching alone. You want to find him before anyone else does."

"You're sounding pretty calm about this," he mumbled back to Theo. "Considering that if they find Donovan, they find Josh too."

He finally stopped and turned to look Theo square in the face.

Theo sighed. "Yeah, well, maybe they should." Stiles was taken aback. Clearly, that wasn't what he was expecting Theo to come back with. "I don't know, after everything that happened with Corey, things might different with Scott. He might be starting to understand that there are things that have to be done. Especially in self-defense."

Theo was expecting Stiles to silently consider his words. Yet, this time he was the one taken aback with Stiles' come back. He scoffed at him.

"You know, save your sucking up for Scott. Don't bother trying it with me. Really, it's actually kind of pathetic."

Before Theo could say something in response, there was a loud ping from Stiles' phone and he took it out to see that he had gotten a pretty big text.

"Who is it?" Theo tried asking.

But Stiles simply pocketed his phone. "I've got to go." Stiles pocketed the phone and then moved to head out. "You can go and tell Scott that I'll talk to him later. Oh, and I'll be sure to have a doggie biscuit for you next time. 'Kay lapdog?" he said, keeping his back to Theo as he headed through the library doors.

He then left, leaving Theo standing there. But Theo didn't look on bothered or pissed. There was an amused and content smirk on his face.

* * *

Sheriff Noah Stilinski was crutched down in the basement of the abandoned house where the Dread Doctors had been keeping Liam, Hayden, Zach and who knew how many other young people captive. There had to be clues as to where they went, or at least as to why they had chosen this place to hold everyone.

Jordan Parrish was with him, gazing over at the section of the wall where the chimera that tried to kill him had been sealed up in before he broke out. The man hadn't been seen since he ran away from the school after he had fought Lydia's friends. As far as Jordan could tell, that had been not only the first chimera they'd encountered, but the oldest. Where was he now? Was he already dead, like most of the others?

"Hey, you okay there Parrish?" Noah suddenly asked, snapping him out of his stupor.

"Uh, yeah. I'm fine." Jordan shook himself out of it and moved closer to him. He then noticed the look on the Sheriff's face. "Though, something tells you that you can't say the same."

Noah moved to pick himself up and let out a heavy sigh. "Things…aren't too good with me and my son right now. He seems kind of mad at me."

"For what happened with Kira?"

He nodded. "He kept telling me that the girl wasn't some innocent victim. Apparently she was involved in the death of a werewolf he knew, and could've been lying in wait to attack and even kill Scott or his mom at his house."

"But you still think you did the right thing by arresting Kira," Jordan threw in, with a soft and knowing tone.

Noah didn't say anything as he looked back at the floor, but his silence seemed to be all the confirmation that Parrish needed. His deputy seemed to be understanding enough, even if he suspected that he didn't completely agree. He wished he got some more of that from Stiles, Melissa and the others. Noah was the Sheriff. They didn't seem to understand that there were duties and obligations that he was under.

He went and pulled out black light to see if there were hidden traces left behind. As the beam moved across the floor, he found spots of blood here and there, but there was also small splats among them leaking some kind of blackened smoke.

"What is that?" he muttered.

Jordan kneeled down to get a better look and narrowed his eyes at it. "I think I know."

* * *

In the locker room, Scott found himself leaning forward slightly, taking deep heaving breaths. He couldn't believe it. This was even one of the harder cross country drills. Scott had taken care to not exert himself like he usually, and lightly jogged the distance but he still felt like he had run a marathon. He quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out his inhaler and started to take deep breaths as he pumped the medicinal air into his lungs. As he let himself try to settle and catch his breath, Scott couldn't help but curse the fact that one of the few good things his lycanthropy actually had done for him seemed to have been undone. Now he was a werewolf, an Alpha, with asthma. It was infuriating.

As Scott found his breathing go back to normal, his eyes narrowed as he heard a rapidly pounding heartbeat. There was a hint of anxiety and desperation also traveling through the air. He pocketed his inhaler and followed the sound and chemo signature across the room and then came upon Liam. As soon as he noticed him, Liam quickly zipped up his gym bag, like he was trying to hide something from him.

"What are you doing?" Scott said to him.

"Nothing," Liam quickly said.

Scott easily could tell he was lying. "Liam, just remember that it's a full moon tomorrow. And you're probably already starting to feel it."

Liam nodded. "I know."

Truth be told, he was already feeling it. Liam hated that even after all these months, he was still so sensitive to the full moon and didn't have as great control as Scott, Stiles or Malia.

"It's a Supermoon. That means it's going to be closer to the Earth."

"Yeah, I know. Stiles already told me all about it. He heard all about the Supermoon from Satomi over a week ago. The way he told it, she had gone through one of these once before a couple of years ago. It makes us more stronger than the usual full moon does."

Scott nodded. "And it's also a lot harder to stay in control. And you-" he started, a little hesitantly.

"Yeah, I know," Liam cut in, a little forcefully as he moved to slam his locker shut. A small bit of shame and embarrassment crept its way and mixed in with his anger. "What? Are you chain me to a tree again?"

That made the Alpha blink. "I just meant, it might be a good idea if we stick together. To protect each other."

Liam let a heated sigh loose. Protect each other? How was Scott planning to do that? According to Stiles, he didn't even have a plan. Besides, even when they had the help of Satomi and her entire pack, they couldn't protect Hayden before. Both she and him had been taken. And Scott wanted to try and handle it by himself now? What would make him think it would end up being any better?

"How?" Liam found himself saying before he moved to grab his bag. "We can't protect anyone."

Liam then headed out, completely missing the crestfallen look Scott had as he watched him. He moved to head off for the parking lot where he saw that Hayden was waiting for him among the school buses. She seemed to be anxiously pacing in place but she settled when she noticed him coming.

"Hey," she said smiling at him.

Liam put in the effort to smile and sound like everything was okay. "Hey," he said back.

Hayden's face fell. "Are you alright?"

He blinked. "Don't you think I should be asking you that?"

She shrugged. "I feel okay, well, aside from being some insane cross between a wolf and jaguar."

"Are you sure? Lately, you haven't been feeling any kind of…urges? Maybe late at night?" he asked a little hesitantly. If he was starting to already feel a slight rise in tension from the upcoming Supermoon, then there was a chance that Hayden and the other chimeras might feel it too.

But Hayden narrowed her eyes. "Urges? And what kind of urges do you think I might be having late at night?" She then folded her arms to effect.

Liam now narrowed his eyes. He wondered why she suddenly looked pissed at him, when suddenly his eyes widened as he realized what she must've thought he meant. He quickly started shaking her head. "No, no, that's not what I meant for it to sound like."

She maintained her glare. "Oh, just how was it supposed to sound like?"

"Uh, well," he started nervously but he then narrowed his eyes when he detected amusement from her, not anger. Even though she was glaring at him. Hayden then realized the jig was up and she burst out in laughter. "Why do you always have to try and mess with me?" he asked, his annoyance all too clear.

But Hayden kept giggling. "Because you're easy and too much fun to mess with."

After a moment, Liam found himself cracking and a small smile crept its way onto him. He was happy to see that she wasn't so glum.

"How are you, really?"

"I feel okay. Better than okay even."

"Just like Corey and that Zach guy."

"But why are we okay and the others weren't?"

Liam shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe, whatever they were doing, maybe by the time they got to you guys, they figured out whatever was wrong."

"A success," she sighed. "So, what going to happen now?"

"Well, we keep you and everyone else left safe."

Hayden smiled and moved to give Liam a grateful peck on the cheek. Liam caught Hayden square in the eye and they then started to stare at one another. Liam found himself leaning in closer to her, and it seemed Hayden was as well. They got to within three inches of each other when Liam suddenly jolted himself back bit.

Quickly Hayden pulled herself back, thinking that Liam must've had a change of heart. That he had stopped himself because it wasn't really her that he wanted to kiss. "I'm so sorry." But as Hayden took in Liam's expression, she saw that he didn't look hesitant or embarrassed. He seemed scared. "What's wrong?" she quickly asked.

"Your nose," he said in but a whisper.

Hayden moved her fingers to wipe at her nose and looked over to see that something had rubbed off on her fingers. It wasn't blood…it was mercury.

* * *

Corey moved silently through the halls as he had gotten to school. He hadn't exactly been the most integrated person at school, but after everything that happened, he was reverting to a complete introvert. He avoided talking or even looking at anyone. After lunch he headed for his locker but when he reached for his lock, he broke it off. His eyes widened as he had snapped it clean off like it was a twig.

"Wow, you're getting stronger."

He turned around and saw Mason standing behind him. It was clear that he had just seen what happened with the lock but didn't seem freaked. In fact, he seemed a bit amazed.

"Uh, how strong am I supposed to get?" he asked in a small voice.

Mason smiled at him. "Let's find out," he said excitedly.

Mason dragged Corey over to the weight room and they were relieved to find that it was empty. Corey was moved over to the weight bar and Mason moved to set some weights up and spot for him as he moved to try and lift them. Though it wasn't exactly trying. Corey lifted the bar like it was as light as a broomstick. Mason steadily added weight to the bar little by little and Corey found he was having no trouble lifting it. Mason kept changing the weights after every set of ten, gradually making it heavier but Corey kept lifting the bar with ease. It continued for a while until Corey started to feel a burn in his arms. He then set the bar down and got up to find that there was over 300lbs on the bar. Wiping his brow, he found that he was only sweating just a few drops and he wasn't breathing too hard.

"Wow," Corey puffed out in amazement. Being able to lift a 1/3 of that would've been a pipe dream for him just a week ago.

"Yeah, I know." Mason said looking from them to him. Corey wasn't exactly built like a tank but he now probably flip one over. "I think you might be as strong as a werewolf."

"Really? Wait, does this mean I'm a success?" he asked with a breathless smile.

That was a good question.

"I don't know," Mason shrugged. "But Scott might." Corey's smile immediately flattened at the mention of the Alpha and Mason sobered up himself. "Look, I know the last time you saw him wasn't…his best day, but he's trying to help."

"Yeah, right," he mumbled.

Corey guessed that Mason was trying to be loyal to his friend's leader or alpha or whatever. But if Scott had only wanted to help him then had a funny way of showing it. Corey had only gone there to try and help but then got his neck jammed with Scott's claws for his trouble. But, he didn't want to say anything to upset Mason so he just kept quiet. That was until he spotted more weights and smiled.

Mason followed his line of sight and spotted them too. "Seriously?"

"Well, you said I might be as strong as a werewolf. Let's see if I am…or stronger," he added eagerly.

"Well, get on," Mason said, growing a little eager himself.

Corey then eagerly moved back under the weight bar as Mason moved to place more weight on the bar. Corey pumped the iron bar up with big bursts of breath as he felt the burning of his muscles return and intensify with each push and pull. That only served to push to keep going. He could feel his body start to heat up even more.

"Get more," he breathed to Mason as didn't stop pushing on the bar.

Mason moved to get another weight, but when he managed to bring it over, he suddenly dropped it, just missing his feet. "Corey!" he shouted.

Corey moved to secure the bar back and got up. "What?"

Mason just stared fearfully at him, too shocked to say anything. Corey moved to wipe the drops of sweat he could feel starting to drip down the side of his face when he looked down at his fingers to see that they were stained gray. He then turned around to look over at the mirror on the wall to see that there was beads of mercury coming from the pores on his head, not sweat.

* * *

"Did you find Stiles?" Scott asked as he pushed open the doors in front of him and then walked back into the school from the quad.

Theo nodded as he walked half a stop behind him. "Yeah, found him near the library, but he's not coming."

"Why not?" he hissed. "Is he still mad?"

That made Theo scoff. "He's pissed. At you, and at me. I watched him storm off, heading for his jeep " His expression then softened as he sensed Scott's sadness shoot up. "Relax, I'm sure its just the Supermoon making him extra irritable."

"Yeah, right. What about you? Are you alright? You feeling different?"

"I don't feel too bad I think I'll be okay," he nodded. "What about you?"

"I'm fine." Scott pulled out his phone and tried calling him but it didn't get through. "He's not picking up. Did Stiles at least say where he was going?"

"No. But, I did tell him about Lydia going off with Parrish later to search the woods together and that seemed to set him off. It sounds like he might've gone back out to try to look for the Nemeton."

"By himself, again? You know, when I spoke to Lydia earlier she told me that whenever she and Stiles had searched together, every time she was ready to call a day, Stiles would always stay around longer to keep searching by himself. I know finding the Nemeton and the bodies are important, but it's like he's obsessed."

Theo let himself seem hesitant and worried. This seemed like a good opening as any. "Uh Scott…I think there's something you should probably know."

Scott could feel that Theo seemed nervous and anxious all of a sudden. "What is it?"

"Scott McCall!"

Scott and Theo stopped and turned to see the Biology teacher standing in between the doorway of the classroom they just passed.

"Ms. Ramsey?" Scott said back to her.

"Yes, I would like to speak with you, in private," she said when it looked like Theo was going to follow after him.

Theo moved to wait for Scott outside as he stepped into the classroom. Scott let his eyes fall on where he used to sit, with Kira. Ms. Ramsey moved to sit at her desk and cleared her throat to pull back his attention.

"I've been hoping to talk to you for a few days now," she started. "I've left requests for you to meet with me. We didn't get a real chance to talk when you suffered that asthma attack. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Um, I'm sorry that I had to drop your course Ms. Ramsey." he said apologetically

"Don't apologize to me Scott," she said sternly to him. "It's your future that your decision is going to affect, not mine."

Scott felt his stomach twisting a little at that. "I know."

"Well, I was hoping to speak to you about what your plans for yourself are now. It's my understanding that becoming a veterinarian is now out of the cards without a thorough understanding of Biology."

"Um, well, I'm still working on that."

"Yes, that was why you had to drop my AP class, correct? It was too much work. You would think with one less course then your workload would become more manageable, not less." Ms. Ramsey then moved to fold her hands in front of her. "Scott, I've spoken with some of your other teachers. There's been a rather sharp, significant decline in your school work over the last two weeks. You've been barely passing half your quizzes and in your English class, you were three days late turning in your report. You do know that before you could go to UC Davis or any college, you have to actually graduate high school first, is that right?"

Scott face fell deeper. "Yeah, I know. I've just gotten a lot on my plate lately." With everything happening with the chimeras, and with him and his friends, he hadn't really been able to put much focus in his studies as he would've liked.

That just made Ms. Ramsey shake her head. "Mr. McCall, if you are looking for sympathy and a hand to hold, it's not going to be found with me. Don't waste more of yours and especially my time with excuses. They are what take up and waste work and effort."

"Um-"

"Stop saying um," she cut in, making him shrink back a step. Ms. Ramsey then seemed to collect herself before moving to stand back up. When she spoke again, her tone was slightly lighter than before. "Scott, like I said before, you're a good kid. But sadly, you can't rely on that to help you anymore."

Scott silently stared at Ms. Ramsey as she looked him square in the eyes. He couldn't help but feel she was trying to tell him something, beyond what she simply said. But before he could think more on it, there was a sudden surge of noise outside the door made him look away. Through the window, they could see people suddenly running through the halls like they were either excited or panicked. Scott focused and heard the sound of sirens and he bolted out of the room.

At the front of the school was pandemonium as a stretcher was wheeled out with Corey laying right on it. Scott and Theo made it in time to see him getting loaded into the ambulance, his face and lips covered with streaks of mercury. Scott quickly found Mason standing off to the side, watching in shock.

"What happened?" he asked him.

"I…I don't know," Mason said, his voice cracking slightly. "One minute, he was fine. And then, he just…started bleeding."

Theo tugged on Scott's shoulder and pulled him to the side. "He's bleeding mercury. You know what that means, right?"

Scott nodded. "Yeah, they're coming for him. I have to go to the hospital."

"I'm coming too. We can take my truck."

"Theo," he tried.

But Theo cut him off. "Scott, you're my Alpha now. And I'm your beta. That means where you go, I go. You lead and I follow, that's how it works, right?"

"Okay," Scott sighed, but let the sides of his lips curve a bit.

He then took the lead for the school parking lot with Theo a step behind him.

* * *

Liam brought Hayden inside and brought her to a bathroom where she could clean the mercury on herself off before he ran to try and find Scott. He needed to warn him that the Dread Doctors would be coming for her. But, it was chaos in the halls as students were moving about, and talking as loud as they could. He distantly heard the sirens from an ambulance and quickly flagged some of the nearby students to find out what had happened.

"Some kid started bleeding out of nowhere in the weight room."

"Yeah, some sophomore."

"I think his name was Cody or something like that."

"My best friend just texted me. He saw the stretcher and he swears that it looks like the guy's blood was gray or something."

As he listened, Liam realized what had happened. Scott wouldn't be here. He would've gone after Corey. That meant he was the only person left to protect Hayden. He went over and found her loitering by the steps near the bathroom he left her.

"It was Corey," he said, once he reached her. "He was just taken to the hospital."

"Him too. That means they're going to be coming for both of us."

"They're coming for all of you." Liam realized that Hayden couldn't stay at school. She wouldn't be safe here. "Come on.

He then grabbed her hand and they moved to head out.

* * *

Zach let out a heated breath. "Look, I already told the Sheriff and the other cops, I didn't try to kill myself the other night. I just stepped out onto the roof for some air. I was at the edge, admiring the view and I guess I just slipped. I didn't jump or anything."

Virgil was currently in Zach's apartment, trying to make sense of what happened that night. He was trying to make sense of what had happened. Something about it all didn't feel right with him. But Zach was impatiently trying to shoo Virgil off.

"Glad to hear that, but that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. I want to know how are you vertical right now?"

Zach blinked his eyes a bit. "What are you on about?" he said, trying to sound dismissive.

"I was there, when you landed. The car, you know, the one you crashed into, its tinfoil now." He then gestured out at him. "But you're completely fine. Walking and standing straight, not a single bruise or even a scratch on you."

"I'm fine, can't we just leave it at that?!" Zach felt a rising heat gathering at both his eyes and his fingertips. "Seriously, can't I be left alone without people constantly popping on by, asking if I'm okay and saying they want to help me."

"What people?" He then thought of something. "Scott McCall?"

Zach then grew suspicious. "Wait, are you with him? One of them?"

"What? No, I saw him at the hospital the day after you, fell. He was asking about you, and what do you mean 'one of them'?"

"Look, could you just leave, okay? Or do I have to call the cops? If I remember right, that's right up your alley, isn't it?"

Not long after that, Virgil was leaving the apartment, the door slamming shut barely a second after he stepped out. He turned and gave the door the finger before he sighed and headed off for the elevator. Honestly, why did he even come here and bother with any of this? Because it was the right thing to do? Well, if it was then he guessed he could check this one off.

"Service done," he mumbled to himself as he stepped into the elevator as it reached him. "No more sweat off my back." The doors then closed.

But instead of going back to his floor, he moved to head out of the building. True, if he left now he would be around twenty minutes early for his shift at the garage, but why stick around? Besides, this could help quell his boss a bit. He knew the grouch was aggravated enough with him in that he had to call out the last minute the other day with the legitimate excuse of being in the hospital. After seeing McCall there and whatever fainting spell he had made the nurse who saw him take him to a room and insist that he stay overnight to be evaluated. After their tests, they told him that he must've suffered a panic attack but he didn't understand how or why. He hadn't had something like that since…the night of his dad and grandmother's accident.

As he was stepping out of the main doors, he almost bumped into someone, a girl, and managed to stop in the nick of time.

"I'm so sorry," he quickly said to her.

"Don't worry, it's okay," she said back.

But Virgil froze when he got a good look at her. "Wait, Lydia? Lydia Martin?"

Lydia nodded. "Yes, do I know you?"

How could Beacon Hills High's own self-proclaimed fashionista not remember the school's senior convict? "Uh,"

"Virgil?" said the one behind her. "Virgil…Edelman, right?"

Virgil blinked as he looked at the slightly older guy. "Yeah, uh, do I know you? You look really familiar."

"Yeah, when we met I was on the clock. And in uniform." He then held his hand out to him. "Deputy Parrish. Remember, we met when you were trying to get into that bar."

He then snapped his fingers. "Oh right, Mr. Wait Until You're Officially 21. I'm surprised you remembered me deputy."

Parrish shrugged. "Small town cop. You tend to remember all the hooligans and troublemakers around here," he said in a friendly tone.

Virgil found himself smiling for the first time all day. This guy…he reminded him of the Sheriff. Stilinski often made amusing jabs like that with him. "What brings you around here?"

"Oh, we're just visiting a friend," said Lydia. "Speaking of which, we should get going."

"Yeah, I guess I'll leave you to it," he said, moving aside to let them through.

"It was great meeting you again," Parrish said, nodding over to him. "Stay out of trouble," he said, pointing a warning finger at him.

"Sure," he said as the two of them then stepped inside and headed towards the elevator.

Virgil's eyes followed after them and narrowed slightly. If memory served, Lydia Martin had been close to Allison Argent. The girl that he remembered had dated Scott McCall. He had a strong hunch which 'friend' they were going to see.

In the elevator, Lydia turned over to look at Jordan.

"You know that guy?"

"Met him a little over two weeks ago. The Sheriff told me about him. Apparently, there was some kind of big fiasco about him going to school when he moved here two years ago."

Lydia took a moment and then remembered all about some guy from upstate that had nearly gone to jail and was coming to their school at the beginning of her sophomore year. She remembered that it had been the greatest gossip back then. But then, Allison had moved to town and the animal attacks started up a couple of months later. Lydia couldn't believe she had forgotten about that, but then, a lot has happened since then.

"Yeah, right," she mumbled to herself a little before the elevator stopped at their floor. "Scott, he said that Zach lives at number 907."

"Alright."

They then went off and quickly found the apartment. Lydia did the honors of knocking and they quickly heard someone coming. Once it was unlocked, it flew wide open.

"Seriously, you can't take a-" Zach spat out before he stopped as he caught sight of them. "Sorry," he quickly apologized. "I thought you were someone else."

"It's okay," Lydia said lightly to him.

But Zach's eyes narrowed as the embarrassment ebbed away as he focused on Lydia. "You…I know you." He then snapped his fingers. "Yeah, Lydia Martin, right?"

Jordan looked over at her. "A lot of guys seem to know you."

"Yeah, get used to it," she fibbed at him.

"What are you doing here?" Zach cut in. "Look, I'm upset enough as it is. So let me tell what I told the last guy who came knocking. Leave me alone or I'll call the cops."

Jordan then reached into his pocket and pulled out his badge. "Already here."

Lydia then moved to take a step in, pushing the door further open and making Zach step back into his apartment. "And we really need to talk."

* * *

Things seemed to have tensed up even more all over the school following Corey being taken away in the ambulance. People seemed too upset to even talk about what happened. No one was even trading gossip about Corey, spreading rumors of what they think happened or texting about what was going on to anyone that might've missed it, typical of a situation like this. It was as if everyone could feel that what just happened was more than it was. Even the teachers, like Lydia's mother, became more subdued after what happened. Save for a couple of people, everyone seemed to be trying to be putting it all out of their minds. Those people would be the McCall pack and their circle of friends. Right now, the only one that was still in school was Malia and she was currently sitting in Ms. Martin's class.

Malia was a little upset that she seemed to have been left behind. Stiles had just taken off without a word to her. She tried calling and texting but she hadn't gotten an answer back. Liam had disappeared, no doubt to try and protect Hayden. Lydia had left to go off with Parrish. And Scott and Theo were off, who knows where. While she couldn't help feeling a bit abandoned, honestly, she didn't know how much good she could even be right now. She wouldn't know how to help even if she had been brought along, with any of them. There was too much on her mind right now.

While everyone was preoccupied with taking notes on Ms. Martin's lecture about anthrax, Malia was busy looking over everything she had on The Desert Wolf, again. It had to have been the hundredth time she looked at all of this but it still hit her as fresh as the first time. Ever since she had that memory flash of the Desert Wolf attacking her family in their car, all Malia could really think and focus on was her. For eight years, Malia had lived with the guilt of killing her mother and little sister. Then, Stiles had come along and told her that it hadn't been her fault, as someone had attacked them and she had only been trying to save them. Slowly, the guilt she felt had started to slip away, but it was now back in full force. Her mother, birth mother, had been the one who attacked them, because she was after her. She had been watching and stalking her, according to what her dad had seen because of the book, and then attacked them, trying to get to her. It really was her fault that they were dead. All she could think and really focus on now was finding her mother, Corrine, and mauling her to pieces.

But she was snapped out of her thoughts when she began sniffing some very thick anxiety. Yes, everyone was a bit anxious right now, but this was one was on an extreme level. She looked around but all the other kids around her seemed to be focused on listening to Ms. Martin's lecture. But as she looked over at the kids in front of her, Malia noticed Beth was nervously biting her nails as she stared at her laptop. She then focused her gaze and saw that Beth wasn't taking notes. There was a picture of the full moon and a heading that said Perigee-Syzygy. Malia remembered hearing something like that when Scott and Stiles mentioned the upcoming Supermoon tomorrow night the other day. Beth seemed focused on the moon, and she seemed to grow more tense and anxious every second she did.

"Beth," Ms. Martin suddenly called out, making the girl in question look away. "Please close your computer. I won't ask again," she told the girl sternly.

That made Beth quickly close her computer but she went back to biting her nails. Malia watched as she bit so hard, she seemed to bite a whole nail clean off. Beth realized it a moment later and then spit it out but her lips were stained with black and silver blood. Beth saw the silver blood pouring from her finger and she began to freak out. She looked around and then noticed that Malia was watching her and she full on panicked and ran out of the room.

Ms. Martin moved to try and call out after her but Beth didn't stop and kept on running off down the hall. She then turned around to find that Malia was trying to leave the room too but she moved to stop her. "Malia, I'm sorry but if you want to go to the restroom, it's one at a time." Malia was about to walk around her but Ms. Martin moved to block her. "And if you're thinking about leaving the class, I would remember that your current science grade is far from impressive."

Malia gestured off in the direction Beth ran to. "She needs help."

"Not from you," Ms. Martin argued back.

Malia could see the hesitation and fear pass over her eyes and narrowed her own. "You know what's going on, don't you?"

Natalie Martin removed her glasses as a flash of memory hit her. A disturbing memory. It wasn't too long ago that she was at the Sheriff's station when a teenage girl with a lizard tail roared at her from the ceiling after attacking the people there, including her daughter. She had been trying hard to block it from her mind. It hadn't been real…it couldn't have been. She then looked back at Malia and tried to control her breathing as she began speaking.

"I know that you've put in a lot of work to get through last year with good grades and that I'd like to see you not do anything to jeopardize that."

Malia wouldn't back down. "You know more than that."

She then let her eyes shift and stared hard into Natalie's eyes with her own glowing blue ones. It lasted for a moment before they went back to normal. Natalie trembled for half a second before she steeled herself back up.

"I think you should just keep focused on your school work Malia. All of you. Now please, just sit back down. Unless you'd like me to have to call your father."

Malia took a moment to think about what her father would want her to do in this situation. The answer was clear to her. She moved to walk pass Ms. Martin and headed off to find Beth.

Natalie watched Malia go off with a defeated look on her face. She stared off for a moment before she remembered she still had the rest of her class to think about and moved to get back to her lesson.

Beth had run off to her locker and throwing her books and bag into her locker, all while breathing increasingly fast, when she caught Malia heading right for her.

"Beth," Malia called out.

"Go away," Beth cried out back to her. She then began talking fast and hysterical. "Okay, you don't know anything or my condition."

Hearing that word, condition, Malia suddenly tensed up. "Wait, what do you mean?"

Beth moved to close her locker and leaned her head on it. "My condition. My condition. My condition." Every time she repeated it, her voice got softer and quieter.

Beth then moved to leave but Malia moved to stop her. She jumped forward and took hold of her shoulder but Beth quickly turned around and struck her in the face. The force was enough to send Malia flying off into the lockers and then fall to the floor. She blurringly made out Beth starting to run away down the hall, for the exit.

Malia grit her teeth as she forced herself to her feet. "Are you kidding me?" she spat out, aggravated.

She then moved to chase after her but froze when she came upon the sight of Beth, in the clutches of the Geneticist. They were both right outside the front door, staring right at her. Beth had a look of fear in her eyes as the Geneticist had a firm grip on her face, his metal glove completely covering her mouth. A moment after seeing her, the Geneticist went and completely snapped Beth's neck and let her body go to fall in a dead heap. He then turned to leave when Malia started running over. By the time Malia got to the door, the Geneticist was gone and Beth's body was spread out on the ground, her dead eyes staring back at Malia over a slowly growing puddle of black and silver blood, oozing from her mouth.

Seeing her lying there, Malia couldn't help but feel herself break down a bit. Another chimera had just been lost, on her watch this time. She couldn't help but feel more useless than ever.

* * *

Scott just silently rode shotgun in Theo's jeep, letting his eyes watch but not really take in his surroundings. All that was running through his mind was everything that was going on with his friends. Kira had left Beacon Hills because she felt she wasn't safe to be around anymore. Lydia was taking it upon herself to personally handle a wild card like Parrish. Malia seemed to be going out of her way to avoid everyone. Liam didn't seem to want his help. And Stiles was off on his own, doing who knew what and was planned on dabbling in something that for all they knew would be just as, if not more, dangerous than the Dread Doctors themselves. Deaton was gone and wasn't getting back to him. He couldn't reach the Sheriff and his mom couldn't help him, not with any of this. Right now, all he still seemed to have was Theo.

When the thought of his new official beta came to mind, something came back to him. "Hey," he said, breaking the silence. "Before, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"It can wait," he said with a shake of his head as he kept his eye on the road.

Scott quickly felt some tension and anxiety come off him. And that made him nervous. "If something's wrong, you should tell me. We've all got to start talking to each other again." The last thing Scott wanted was more problems but he can't handle more surprises and secrets kept from him, especially now.

Theo could see that things were well in place for him to put his final plans into action. "This might not be the best place to start Scott," he said, building up the tension.

Scott could see that Theo was worried. "You think I'm going to be angry?"

"Not with me."

"Theo, you can talk to me," Scott said insistently.

The desperation and yearning to get back some semblance of control. Especially after everything going on with his friends and with what just happened with Corey. Theo knew now without a doubt, there wouldn't be a more perfect time.

"Open the glove compartment," he told Scott, softly, as he contained his true emotions.

Scott took a moment before he let his eyes drift down to the compartment and then reach to open it. Inside, there were a few papers but his eyes quickly went to the giant wrench that was slightly smeared with blood.

"It belonged to Stiles," Theo said, as Scott moved to pick it up. "He dropped it at the school."

Scott's eyes didn't leave the spots of blood on the wrench. "Dropped it when?"

"When he killed Donovan."

Scott finally broke his gaze on the wrench and looked over at Theo. "What are you talking about?" he gasped out.

Theo quickly began to recite what he practiced and fine tuned, just for Scott.

"It was the night before you all went to Eichen House to see Valack. Donovan had gone after him. Surprised and attacked him at the school."

"What? But, no, he would've told me."

"You remember when his shoulder was bothering him when we were at your house to read the book? That was from Donovan. The Dread Doctors, they made him into some kind of Wendigo chimera. He had torn out a piece of flesh from Stiles' shoulder with a set of jaws that he made come out from the palm of his hand."

Scott shook his head. "No, he said that was from his jeep. That the hood fell on him."

"Really Scott, a hood falling on him? Do you honestly believe that?" asked Theo breathlessly.

Scott let himself take in a nervous breath. No. Scott didn't believe that. He had seen Stiles' knuckles break open and then heal a few moments later. Something like a hood falling on a shoulder, it wouldn't bother him too much.

"And he went after Stiles?" Scott remembered how Donovan was at the station when he was being taken away. The hate he felt from him, for both Stiles and his dad.

Theo sighed. "Donovan chased after him and they ended up in the library. I only saw the end of it. And, when I saw what Stiles was doing…I couldn't stop him. I shouldn't, I shouldn't be telling you this," he said, his voice starting to crack up a bit. "You should hear this from him."

Theo's voice seemed to be echoing in Scott's head. He took a moment to remember that day. Before they had all gone off to Eichen House. Scott remembered that he had smelled blood, in the library. At the time, he thought it was his imagination. Was that Stiles' blood? Or…Scott let himself look back down at the blood on the wrench. Blood that he knew didn't belong to Stiles. At that moment, Scott wished he had Stiles' ability to tap Event Scars. He was sure that one had to be on this wrench and give him all the answers he wanted.

"Tell me," he said desperately. He had to know.

"Stiles…he was putting up a good fight, but Donovan managed to pin Stiles down. Stiles couldn't get away. He was hurt from when Donovan got him in the shoulder. So, he reached for the wrench and managed to stab it into Donovan's arm. That let him get away but when he got to his feet, Stiles pulled the wrench out and then started to strike Donovan in the head. I…I don't remember exactly how many times he hit him. He didn't even stop when Donovan stopped moving. It was like, once he started, he couldn't stop. He kept on swinging the wrench, bringing it down on Donovan's head over and over. By the time he stopped, Donovan didn't even look like himself. And Stiles, the look in his eyes as he stared down at him…it was-" Theo shook his head. Making it look like he couldn't put words to it in order to build up suspense.

As soon as Theo went silent, the anxiety that Scott had been building throughout his story practically exploded. "It was what Theo?" he said loudly, not enough to be shouting but close enough.

But it was enough to make genuinely Theo jump a bit in his seat. It was plain to see that his version of events during the night of Donovan's attack had Scott following along perfectly, growing ever more anxious with every word. The Alpha was taking the bait and all that was left to do was to start reeling him right in. Theo took a moment to look over and stare at Scott for a moment before he looked back on ahead.

"It wasn't human," he said finally. "I…I couldn't see any trace of Stiles there at all as he just looked down at, what was left. Donovan, he, his head, his face, it didn't even look human anymore. To be honest, I've kind of had a few nightmares about it. But then, Stiles found that I was watching and I panicked and ran. He chased after me and caught me outside in the parking lot. He made me swear not to tell anyone what happened that night. I wanted to tell him that we had to tell you, but I looked into his eyes, his cold and hard eyes." He took that moment to take a deep, nervous breath. "I…I couldn't say no. Scott, I'm sorry."

Scott picked out the hesitancy in Theo's tone and how worried he was. Scared…of Stiles. Scott found that he understood his fear. After viciously critiquing him last night at his house, there was something unsettling in the look Stiles gave him. As much as he tried to hold his ground against Stiles, Scott had felt chills go down his spine even before his eyes flared blue at him.

Theo could feel the conflict brewing up in Scott and moved to finish telling his story. "Stiles then took me with him so we could get rid of the body but when we got back to the library, Donovan's body was gone."

"Parrish," Scott breathed out. "Is that why Stiles has been looking so hard for the bodies? He's trying to find Donovan's?"

With a nod, Theo kept going. "Yeah. He doesn't want anyone to find Donovan because then they'll know it wasn't the Dread Doctors who killed him. Anyway, the place looked clean so Stiles took off but I found the wrench had been kicked under a table. He didn't see me find it but I went and hid it away here in my truck. Please, don't tell him I took it or that I told you," he quickly pleaded.

"I won't," Scott quickly assured him.

But Scott seriously had to talk with Stiles. It looked like he was close to diving off the deep end. He had killed someone, in cold blood. And it looked like he was trying to get himself ready and able to do it even more. He didn't want to believe any of it was true…but he was able to hear that Theo hadn't been lying. His heart was steady the whole time. He heard and felt the fear coming from Theo the whole time. Stiles had done this. What was happening to his best friend? That's not what they were supposed to do. This wasn't who they were supposed to be.

As Scott let himself be drawn and focused on the spots of dried blood of the wrench in his hands, Theo let a small smirk find its way to the far corner of his lips and his eyes brighten a bit. He could feel the turmoil and anxiety coming off of Scott as clear as a picture. While he wasn't sure what could and would be going through Scott's mind until he next saw Stiles, he knew how it would end. One way or another, Stiles would no longer be in the way when the time came for him to get what he truly wanted.

* * *

A/N: I hope everyone is acting safely and trying their hardest to bare going through this quarantine lockdown. All we can do is hope is ends as soon as possible but we still have things like our stories to help us through it.

This chapter was more challenging to write because of the changes affecting the future of the story relating to the chimera Zach, Stiles and his awakening Beast power, the change in Liam's feelings for Hayden due to his feelings for Lori and Theo's hand in Wilson Grant's murder. I've also gone through some old chapters and made changes to the one I believe to portray Virgil, as well as chapter 12's scene involving Wilson's fight with the chimeras and his death. If you haven't noticed them, go back and check them out. I'd like to hear what you think of the new stuff, and what's starting to develop leading to our mid season climax.

Again, be careful.


	25. Lies of Omission part 2

Chapter 25: Lies of Omission part 2

"Almost there," Stiles mumbled to himself as he let his back settle further into car seat. Then he detected a small grinding noise coming from his jeep's engine and he tightened his grip on the steering wheel some. "C'mon Roscoe, hang in there a little longer buddy," Stiles prayed off.

His jeep's condition was starting to get on its last legs. He was sure that getting flipped over by Parrish back at the animal clinic didn't help. More and more, Stiles' nose picked up a stronger smell of burnt glue and plastic as he drove. The tape on his engine was burning through and as much as Stiles tried to replace it, it seemed the engine only burned through it more, and faster. Not only that, his jeep was taking longer to start up every time. While he was doing his best to try to hold it together, he knew it was only a matter of time before it burnt out completely.

But the concerned thoughts on his car left him when his phone started ringing. He reached for it and saw that it was Scott. Stiles just sighed and made it go to voicemail. His depressed face immediately went to an annoyed one as he cancelled and silenced his phone. It hadn't been too long since he left the school and he could only guess that the pack's newest beta didn't waste any time running to Scott and tell him that Stiles wasn't coming.

" _You're not the alpha, I am. The true alpha_ ," Stiles screeched out, bitterly repeating what Scott had said to him last night. "What's with him?"

Lately, Stiles had been growing more aggravated with Scott. He went and hurt Corey, a chimera who actually seemed to need their help and who Mason convinced to try and help them, just because he became impatient and claimed he had no choice. Yet, everything Kira did to try and protect and save them, probably because some part of her felt there was no choice, and Scott makes her feel the need to leave. Satomi and her pack go out of their way to try and help them, putting themselves in danger, and Scott brushes what they're going through off to the side, like they're useless. Now Scott goes and criticizes his plan for dealing with the Dread Doctors when he doesn't have one of his own. They've killed so many innocent people already and it doesn't look like they're planning to slow down. Scott just wants to stop them, from what they've seen in their encounters with them, it looked like the only way the stop the Dread Doctors was to kill them. Otherwise, they will kill Corey, Hayden, Zach, and who knows how many more people through either them or their chimeras. Scott doesn't seem to know what he's doing anymore, and yet he goes and pulls the Alpha card at him...like a snob. Probably doesn't help that he now seems to have his own personal bootlicker.

Which brought his train of thought to Theo. Ever since he first got here, he's been saying that he came here looking for a pack. Now that Scott's taken him on, he starts trying to suck up to him? And Scott wasn't the only one in the pack he's been cozying up to. The image of Malia rushing to hug him, or how tightly and affectionately he hugged back, not to mention that look Theo threw over to the window at him, Stiles couldn't control the small growl that erupted from his throat. He then brought his vision down to his steering wheel and saw that his claws were out on his left hand, his more…bestial claws. Stiles went and heaved a deep, hard breath out. He had to remain calm. The last thing he needed was to shift while he was driving. With the new Supermoon only one day away it was important to put more effort to keep himself in check than he was used to. There would be time to let his aggression and issues out later, he was sure.

Not too long, Stiles found himself pulling up to Devenford Prep. He had to admit, this private school seemed pretty fancy. As he walked down the hall with Satomi and her beta Trey, he thought they were more fancy than the ones at Beacon Hills High with their marble looking floors and decorative moldings.

"Nice place," he said letting his eyes wander. "But, are you sure it's okay for us to just come in like this?"

Satomi let a small chuckle loose. "Don't worry. If anyone asks, I'll claim to have come to make a surprise inspection."

"Satomi's on the school's Board of Trustees," Trey explained. "She helps with the running of the school, screening of teachers and staff and has a strong say with how its funds are used."

"Really?" Though, now that Stiles thought about it, he never did think to ask what Satomi did for a living. Being Alpha of a werewolf pack wasn't exactly a day job. "That's great."

"I do what I can," she tried to wave off. "I'm just glad you could come by at such short notice."

"Yeah, but I can't stay long. Hey, where are Brett and Lori?"

"They're in class right now. I didn't want to pull them out. Besides, they've done enough. Now follow us, there's not much time."

"Huh?" But the two of them stayed silent and Stiles just trailed after them. A moment later, Satomi and Trey just stopped. "What is it?"

Satomi turned to face him. "Ever since you helped me learn that Wilson had been killed in the school, every inch of it was combed for a trace of the struggle. Brett and Lori then found that there was a hint of his blood around here."

"Any sign of Wilson anywhere?"

She shook her head. "No, no sign of his body could be found anywhere around here. This is all we have." Satomi then narrowed her eyes suggestively.

"So, you're hoping an event scar was left behind," Stiles said, catching on.

Stiles was then on his hands and knees, crawling about as he ran his hands about, feeling around the walls and along the floor. Satomi and Trey were on opposite ends of the corridor, looking out for anyone. Now he knew what he meant about not being a lot of time. It would be hard to do this when the halls were filled with students. Stiles then noticed what seemed like thin little scratches in the floor. His four long fingertips touched them and Stiles felt like he was pushed back and he found himself looking at quite the scene.

He saw Wilson striking a young girl, the chimera from the morgue. She had her claws in his stomach but he managed to pull them out after he hit her. She then fell to her knees and her bloodied nails scratched into the floor slightly. He then saw Wilson lift her up and then throw her off into the air, where she collided with-"

"Donovan," he muttered, as Wilson then moved to run.

Stiles then blinked and saw that he was back on the floor, where Satomi and Trey were hovering over him.

"What did you see?" asked Satomi.

Stiles moved to stand back up. "Wilson, he was here. Fighting against that chimera from the morgue."

"But, she wasn't alone, was she?" said Satomi, looking straight at him. "There was another. A young man, with dark hair."

Stiles widened his eyes. "How did you-"

He was cut off by the sound of a bell.

"Come with me," Satomi said, just before the sound of dozens of voices began filling the halls as the students began filing out of the classrooms.

Stiles was brought into an office that had the plaque of Vice Principal on the door and Satomi moved to open it.

"Uh," he started.

"Don't worry," she said as she opened it. "He's out this week." She brought him inside and she moved to go for the computer. "This computer is connected to the security system in the school, including the surveillance cameras."

"The school has cameras?"

"Only at the entrances and the field. But, I began checking the footage timestamped for that particular night." She selected the file and then started to wind up the footage's speed to sometime a little before 7:30. "And I found this."

Stiles looked and saw that same girl, the chimera from the morgue with the long needle nails. And walking behind her was Donovan. He was a Wendigo. They were cannibalistic, ate human flesh. That's why there had been no trace of a body. He must've eaten Wilson after he had been killed. Just the thought made Stiles more sick to his stomach at the thought of him.

"Stiles," Satomi said, snapping him out of his thoughts and making him look up at her. "I think you owe me an explanation."

Her tone hadn't been pressing, angered, or accusing. It was patient, calm and knowing. Stiles found himself deflating right there. Soon enough, he had told Satomi everything about Donovan and what happened at the school. Throughout his explanation, Satomi hadn't said anything. She just listened which Stiles was secretly grateful for. He didn't know if he could start up again if he was forced to stop.

"I see," she said as soon as he was done.

Stiles moved and wiped the traces of unfallen tears that had gathered up in his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. A sudden pressure seemed to have built in his chest after all of that.

"But, I still don't understand why. Me, I can see why Donovan came after me but why would he, or that other girl, have gone after Wilson?"

"Maybe it wasn't their idea." Satomi then moved back for the computer. "Brett and Lori mentioned something to me a while ago. Something about Liam running into a wolf at the high school?"

Stiles nodded. "Yeah, almost a month ago. Why? What does that have to do with anything?"

Satomi sped up some footage and then leaned back. "Look at this."

Stiles saw the sight of Donovan and the girl chimera leaving the school almost an hour after they had arrived. But there was something following after them. It was a wolf. A black haired wolf, just like Liam and Mason had described the one that had tried to attack them at the school.

"That was no wolf," Stiles muttered.

Satomi nodded. "That is Wilson's killer."

* * *

It was the end of the school day and most of the halls were filled with students high in relief at the long day being over. Though there was one that was anything but.

Ruben was at his locker, throwing his books in there before letting out a deep breath and then closing it. He then headed off and out the front entrance, trying to walk off the anxiety he was feeling about later tonight. But, his anxiety wasn't just from apprehension. There was a bit of excitement mixed in there as well. Ruben had managed to smooth the tensions between him and Cora earlier that day and got himself invited over to her house to study later. Her brother wouldn't be home so it would be just the two of them. And her baby boy too, of course. This is what the break he needed.

"Not much longer now, he muttered to himself as he moved to turn a corner. But he stopped when he bumped into someone. "Hey, watch it," he muttered.

"No, you really don't have long, do you?"

Ruben was startled and took a step back. "Who are you?"

"You're Ruben, right? I'm Oscar."

"Oscar? As in Dean's alpha Oscar?" he gasped.

"That's right." Oscar then let his eyes glow their Alpha red hue for a moment before they faded back to normal. "I thought it high time to meet this one that Dean said could get me the answers I've been looking for. I have to say, I expected…more."

As freaked as Ruben was, he couldn't help but also be a little ticked about the obvious jab. "I have a plan. I'm close, I just need one more day."

"You only _have_ one more day," Oscar stressed, holding up his forefinger up, showing the sharp claw up at the end of it. He then took that clawed finger and ran it across his own neck, lightly letting some blood drip free before his skin started knitting itself back closed. "I'm not sure if Dean told you, but I'm not known for my patience."

"I get it," Ruben sighed, mildly freaked by what Oscar just did.

Oscar then headed off, leaving Ruben standing there for a moment, trying to steady himself before resuming his trek to Cora's.

Unnoticed by both of them, Charlie Harris was looking on, his eyes narrowed.

* * *

When Scott and Theo reached the hospital wing where Corey was placed, they found the place was in chaos. People around were panicked and even saw a woman in a wheelchair fallen over on the floor.

"They're already here," Scott gasped as he took in everything.

But, as they kept looking, they saw that no one was seriously hurt. Just confused and disoriented at worse.

"This wasn't them," Theo said, realizing that the Dread Doctors couldn't have done this. And wouldn't. He knew the Surgeon and the others wouldn't just flaunt their presence so outward and callously.

Scott knew he was right. "It was Corey."

As the two tried to run off to find his room, around the corner, out of nowhere, Corey suddenly appeared. He had taken down his camouflage. He could make himself blend in with his surroundings and become virtually invisible, just like a chameleon. He found out that he could do this over a day after he was brought to Scott's house. However, he didn't tell anyone about it. Not even Mason during their time in the weight room. He couldn't be sure that Mason wouldn't have said something to Scott or the others. Clearly, it was a wise move. He couldn't stay here. He had to leave before he was found out. If he wasn't a success then he knew that he was in danger.

Scott and Theo got to his room but found no sign of Corey anywhere. They split off to try and look for him but quickly met up with each other a few minutes later.

"Security is still looking," Scott told him.

"I didn't see anything either," said Theo.

But then, close by, the elevator doors started to open and shut with the lights beginning to flicker. It was like it was suffering a power surge. This was too familiar to Scott.

"Now they're here," he gasped.

Corey was slipping through the hospital, quietly trying not to be seen, or bump into anyone when he went invisible. That would only announce to the werewolves where he was and he couldn't let Scott find him. Despite everything that Mason had said about Scott only wanting to help, Corey thought his best chance was to look after himself. When he got to the hospital's parking garage, he noticed that it was empty. He let himself relax a bit as he was almost out of there. He moved through the ambulances, out towards the daylight, but froze when he started hearing a strange crackling sound. He looked back as he started to then hear heavy sounding footsteps. Corey quickly backed up and moved to camouflage himself. Soon enough, one of the Dread Doctors started to walk into view and Corey tried very hard to not let out any sound or sign that he was there. He'd never seen them before but heard enough about them from Mason and the others to know he was there to kill him.

The Surgeon was walking through the space between ambulances, slowly and alone. This failure wouldn't be a problem and didn't require the Geneticist or Pathologist to be with him. He was more than sufficient to deal with this one. He walked down the path and then drew the blade out from his cane. The failure thought that he was hiding, placing himself out of a visible spectrum, but he could see him plain as day through his lens. If that was the height of this subject's capability then it would be no loss. He went and stuck it straight into the boy's chest and brought him out of his camouflage. He then pulled back and continued walking off, disappearing from the visible frequency, ready to re-join the others and go oversee the next subject.

Corey was left there, slowly sliding down to the ground as he felt the pressure building in his chest from having his heart pierced. He tried to let out a cry for help but his voice was stuck in his throat and soon found everything around himself going dark.

It wasn't long after that he was found by Scott and Theo. Scott kneeled down as he looked at the wound in Corey's chest with fresh blood and mercury spilling out. He was too late, again.

"We better go," Theo gently said to him, dragging him out of his thoughts.

Scott started to straighten himself up. "We have to find Hayden."

He then took off with Theo hot on his heels. Scott quickly pulled out his phone and started sending out a text.

"What are you doing?" Theo said as he followed right after him.

"Telling my mom where to find Corey," he muttered.

"Oh…uh, Scott, what are we going to tell Mason?"

Scott let out a troubled breath as he thought of Liam's best friend. He and Corey had clearly been getting closer over the last few days. This was going to crush him.

But he shook his head. "We can't think about that now. Hayden and Zach are the only chimeras we know that are left. Lydia said she and Parrish were going to see Zach." He could only hope they convinced him to let them protect him. "Liam should be with Hayden now. We have to get to them."

Scott had promised Liam that he would save Hayden. And he saw that Liam was already losing faith. He can't have another of his friends do that.

Theo nodded. "Yeah, you're right."

As Scott worked on finishing getting word to his mom, Theo let himself give a smirk at his back.

* * *

Lydia was staring out the window with a bummed out look as Jordan was driving through the tree surrounded road. They were driving their way up the preserve, for the woods. They had driven here straight after their visit to Zach. It had been…interesting to say the least.

After flashing his badge, Zach moved to let Jordan and Lydia into his place. Sitting down, Lydia led off with revealing that they knew about Zach and what he had gone through. He realized that they were with Scott, as he had tried to visit and talk to him a few times before but had sent him out. The two had managed to calm Zach down and patiently explain everything that was currently happening. About werewolves, the Dread Doctors, the chimeras they were making, and what was happening to them. Needless to say, Zach got freaked when he learned that the doctors were killing the chimeras that were 'failures', afraid that he might be next. Zach tried to argue that he felt fine. Better than fine even.

He then went and explained what happened after Liam and Hayden had seen him get taken away. That the doctors injected him with something and he went to sprout wings and managed to escape them by flying away. The two were surprised and asked if he could control his shift. He nodded and then demonstrated by discarding his shirt and then bringing them out of his back in the middle of the room. Lydia thought they seemed like some the wings of a giant preying bird, like a vulture or condor. They also noticed that he had claws on his hands, just like a werewolf's, and his eyes glowed yellow, also like a werewolf.

And because of that, Zach refused to come with them or accept theirs or Scott's help or protection.

"You've been quiet," Jordan suddenly said.

"Huh?" she said, snapping out of her thoughts. "What?"

"Since we left Zach's apartment," he continued. "Are you worried?"

"It was a mistake to just leave him on his own. We should've taken him with us."

"He didn't want to. What were we supposed to do, kidnap him" Jordan said to her gently as he put his eyes back on the road.

' _Yeah, that didn't work so well with Liam_ ,' she thought to herself, remembering Scott and Stiles' attempt seven months ago when they first met him. "He isn't safe."

"With the Dread Doctors around, who is? But, Zach managed to escape the Dread Doctors on his own, by flying away. Which I gotta admit, I thought was pretty awesome," he said with a bit of a chuckle. "And he did say that he would be leaving town."

"It's not going to be enough," she muttered out.

"You saying that as a cynic or as a banshee?" he said, trying to be funny and lighten the mood.

That made Lydia curve her lips up slightly and look over at him which made his own lips curve a bit.

"Honestly, I don't know. Lately, they're starting to feel like the same thing. Besides, it's not just that." She paused for a moment to stare out into the trees in the distance. "It's Stiles."

"Oh? Is something wrong?"

"Something's happening with him…and it's making Scott worried."

Lydia let herself remember her meeting earlier this morning with Scott at school, before she left to go with Jordan. He told her what seemed to be happening to Stiles, and what he seemed to be planning to do.

"Is he okay?" Jordan asked, concerned. He knew how much the Sheriff cared for his son, and he had gotten somewhat fond of eccentric young man himself in the last year.

"To be honest, I'm not sure. I just hope finding the Nemeton can do something to help. If you've really been dreaming about it more, than it could hold a clue."

"Yeah, speaking of which, if this thing is so important, how come you didn't want to show it to me before?"

"Well, the problem is it's not easy to find."

"Should we put it in the GPS?"

"Not exactly. Stiles and I have been trying to find it the last few days. So far, nothing."

"So, then how are we supposed to find it?" he asked right as he made a turn. "Because, I don't remember ever being anywhere near a giant tree stump."

"I think you're already starting to remember."

"Yeah, how would know that?"

"You just took a right turn."

At that, Jordan looked over at her, and she was staring at him with a strong intense look. Jordan couldn't remember even making a turn. Could…whatever he was, could it be leading them to it?

* * *

When Noah heard the call about Corey being picked up by paramedics at the school, he had gone off to go to the hospital himself. He knew that the boy was one of these 'chimeras' and if he was in danger than this body snatcher would no doubt be close. But on his way, another call came in. A body had been found at the school, a girl, and he quickly turned around and headed for the school instead. The girl's body had been lain out by one of the doors into the building and Noah spotted a spot of blood and quickly found spots of gray mixed about. Mercury. It was obvious that she was another chimera. Though, Noah found it odd that his son wasn't around for something like this or was coming over to find him like he usually did. As the M.E arrived, he went off and found that Stiles wasn't in his assigned class. He then looked over at the parking lot and noticed that his jeep was also gone. He had left the school, possibly because of Corey.

Then he remembered what Deputy Clark told him before. She had been looking into the 911 call that had come through at the school that night last week. She told him about the school's system logging in the library being accessed just a few minutes before the call through key cards. Clark said that two names had been logged in. One was Theo Raeken. The other was his son. When he brought up the key card with Stiles at the hospital, Stiles told him that he had lost it. But, he seemed a little bothered by the matter. Looking back, the way Stiles had acted then was like how he did before Noah had learned the _truth_ behind him and his friends. Stiles had acted guilty, and Noah had told Stiles that when someone was guilty, they always made a mistake.

The library was practically empty when he got there, understandable as no one would be here in light of what was now happening. He spotted the card reader at the side of the door and stepped in as it was still wide open at this time. Something wasn't right. The report said that the deputy responding to the call had checked the library but had found nothing out of the ordinary. But, Noah knew by now that when searching in this town, especially at the high school, that things weren't what they seemed at first glance. He brought out his UV light and started to shine it around on the floor. He stopped next to a scaffolding when he spotted a small dark cloud of mercury on the floor. A chimera had been there.

And Stiles and Theo are somehow at the center of it.

* * *

"Come on," Stiles breathed as he turned the key for what seemed like the hundredth time.

He was in the Devenford Preparatory parking lot, half inside his car turning the key and half outside looking over at his open hood. After Satomi had shown him the security footage, he made his way for his jeep but it was refusing to start. He had been alternating between putting tape over his engine and turning on the ignition for the last hour and a half. Even if he left now, he wouldn't make it back in time for his last class.

"Please, work," he begged.

He then turned the key again and the car seemed to let out a sputtering cough like sound but it did start up. Stiles sighed in relief before he went off and closed the hood of his car. Stiles then threw himself into his car and his wrist ended up hitting his phone where it rested.

"Oh," he muttered as he picked it up.

Stiles had forgotten that he had silenced his phone. He had even forgotten to take it in with him when he went into the school. He then looked and saw that not only had Scott left him a few more messages, but there were even messages from Lydia, Mason, Liam and his father. He then moved to listen to them all.

Ten minutes later, his jeep was almost burning rubber as he tried to race himself back.

* * *

Virgil stepped out of the garage's office with an ugly and pissed expression was on his face as he moved to head for his locker. He was starting to button up his work overalls when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked over and saw that it was Eric, the guy who drove the garage's tow. Virgil let his face go blank as he stared expectantly at the guy.

"Boss said that I'm to take you out and train you on the tow."

"Yeah," Virgil grumbled out.

"Alright, come and find me when you're finished."

"Sure," he muttered back.

As soon as Eric left, the pissed expression was back. Virgil was one of the garage's mechanics, not a tow operator. As soon as he got in today, his boss called him into the office. Virgil quickly explained what happened with Zach and at the hospital. After he was done, his boss nodded and said he understood. For a moment, Virgil thought his boss would just leave it at that, but then went and told him that starting today, he would be starting to train on the tow, so he could add it with his other skills at the garage. He made it sound innocent enough but Virgil knew what his boss was scheming. He was trying to add to Virgil's work load so he could do more for the same money. No doubt he would begin asking him to do more overtime without pay, again,

He couldn't help but feel this was some kind of payback for having an iron clad excuse to skip work. Still, what could he do? It wasn't like there was any other place he could work in this town. Not with his…record. He was stuck, in more ways than one.

Virgil finished buttoning himself up and went to grab his pouch hanging from one of his locker hooks and noticed his grandmother's tarot cards. He grabbed the deck, shuffled and closed his eyes.

"Well grandma, how are things going to shape up now?"

He then went and drew a card and held hit in front of his face and opened his eyes. He flipped it and saw that it was The Tower.

"Of course," he sighed.

"Edelman!" His boss shouted, making him drop his tarot deck. Virgil looked over to see him peeking his head into the locker room. "Stop daydreaming and get to work. You wasted enough time."

Virgil thrust his locker shut before he bent down to start picking up the cards. He froze though when he noticed that The Tower card had fallen right top of two familiar looking cards. The Fool in the reversed position and The Magician.

"The Fool, reversed," he muttered.

That had been the soul card he picked out back at the hospital when he ran into Scott McCall. Was it about him? If it was, then who was The Magician? Because, if he was reading this right, then The Tower was telling him that something terrible and disastrous was about to come between the two.

But then he shook his head and moved to pick the cards all up. What did this matter to him anyway? If what happened because he tried to help Zach was any clue, he was better off just looking out for himself. No one else was going to.

* * *

Scott and Theo had returned to the school to see that not only was there another ambulance, but there was a slew of deputy cruisers and a coroner's van as well. It didn't take them long to find out what had happened. It seemed that school was being called off for the rest of the day. Theo quickly volunteered himself to try to find Stiles and Malia. Scott thought it was a good idea and he went off to try to find Liam and Hayden. They needed to keep an eye on her now more than ever. It didn't take too long for Theo to track her down. She was overlooking as the coroners were taking away Beth's body bag in a stretcher.

"Malia?" he called out when he got close enough. She turned to look over at him and then made her way over. He noticed her distress. "Are you okay?"

She shook her head. "I saw it. They came and…I wanted to help her but, she attacked me. And, I couldn't make it in time to even help her."

The distress she felt was flowing out like a flood to him and he felt the predatorial need to pounce. He went and placed his hands on her shoulders to make her directly face him "Hey," he said in a gentle, soft tone. "Listen, there is nothing more you could've done. And, if you had been with her, who knows what would've happened. They might've killed you too. I'm just happy that they didn't. All of us would be, okay?"

Malia stared deep in Theo's deep caring eyes and she felt how he was truly relieved and thankful that she was alright. She then went and wrapped her arms around him, tightly. She let some of her anxiety release from herself as she had a tight grip on him. As he moved to return her hug, she couldn't help but start feeling how hard and firm his body was, or how strongly he held her. And, as she felt his hands lower down her back, she was feeling an urge to nuzzle and relax her face in his warm, toned chest.

Noah had returned to the scene of the crime and was approached by one of the coroners, asking if they should remove the body now, as there was quite an assembled crowd of kids now.

"Give the M.E. five more minutes, alright?" he told them before he turned his head and found Malia, talking with Theo nearby. "Excuse me," he said as he moved over towards them. As he did, he saw Malia move to hug Theo. He slowed a bit as he saw how Theo was responding, a tad intimately by how his hands were moving down. "Malia?" he perked up, making the two separate. "You okay?"

She moved to clear her throat. "Yeah," she nodded.

"She was the one who-" Theo then looked over in the direction of the body to silently fill in the rest.

"Oh," he nodded. "Uh, have you either of you seen Stiles anywhere? I can't find him."

"No," they both said, shaking their heads.

"I can try calling him again," Malia suggested.

"Thanks," Noah said, smiling at her. She then pulled out her phone and headed off for a more quiet place. He then turned to Theo. "And Scott?"

"He's out looking for Liam. Thinks he's with Hayden."

"All right," he nodded. "Well, I need a word. Alone."

"Uh, yeah, okay," he said, allowing the Sheriff to pull him away.

Theo let the man lead him off, towards the locker room, where there was no one in at the moment. He could see that Stiles' father was pretty anxious about something. He guessed it was from what he just saw between him and his son's girlfriend.

"Sheriff, about what just happened, Malia was just upset that she couldn't save Beth from the Dread Doctors. I was just trying to help her, as her friend." His tone was calm and polite.

"Oh, that's good to hear. But, that's not what I want to talk about."

"Oh, then what is it?" he asked, still sounding calm and polite.

"Your school card. Do you have it?"

Theo then went to pull it out and give it to him. "What's going on?"

"Over a week ago, there was a call made about an incident at the school library. It was ruled as a prank because the responding deputy didn't find anything. But, the school computer logged your keycard for library access a little before that."

Theo heart jumped a tick but he instinctively brought it back down, even though the Sheriff couldn't hear it. He could see where this was going and turned his back to the Sheriff. "Am I going to a need a lawyer?" he asked, quickly trying to think.

"You tell me," Noah said, turning the card over and over in his hand.

Theo swallowed and just slowly started talking. "Stiles wasn't there," he said.

"But Donovan was," said Noah. "He was a chimera, wasn't he?"

"A Wendigo," answered with a nod. "He was looking for Stiles. He was going to kill him." He then moved to look back at him, his face softening up a bit and he scrunched his eyes to begin making tears form. "Donovan said that, he wanted to kill Stiles in front of you. When he saw me there instead, he tried to get me to tell him where Stiles was."

"What did you tell him?"

"Nothing," Theo gasped. "So he came at me. I, I tried to fight him off but…all I can think was that I couldn't let him kill me," he said, his voice starting to break. "And I can't let him kill Stiles. I climbed up the scaffolding, but he started to drag me down." At this point, he could feel the tears building up in both of his eyes. "Then, these support beams, they slid off the top. When I looked back, one of them had gone right through him. I…I didn't know what to do. I dialed 911 but when the deputy got there, the body was gone. Even the blood, everything was just…it was gone. I didn't know what to do. So, I didn't do anything."

The entire story, Theo had taken what happened more or less what actually happened between Stiles and Donovan and just replaced Stiles with himself. Though, he figured making it seem like he tried to escape and Donovan got hurt would garner enough sympathy to have the Sheriff keep quiet, at least for a while. It seemed to work, as he then found himself being embraced by the man. Theo couldn't help but think this was too close.

After they separated, Noah softly told him it would be okay and then moved to follow Theo out. Yet, as soon as Theo turned his back to the man, Noah narrowed his eyes at him.

* * *

Lydia and Parrish had kept driving until Jordan suddenly pulled them out of the road and kept going a bit further until the woods were too thick with trees for them to keep going. They then got out of the car and moved out on foot. Though, after ten minutes of walking, he stopped and started looking about, seemingly lost in thought.

"Anything look familiar?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Nothing. I'm trying but it all looks like woods to me."

"Well, maybe you're thinking about it too much. Sometimes, it's about what you feel." That's how it was for her. On two separate occasions, when she felt like she needed to scream, those times Stiles and Malia had told her to do it and things seem to clear up for her. Maybe the same was true with Parrish? "What do you feel right now?"

"Annoyed," he huffed. "And frustrated. With myself. I want to help…and I can't." Barely a moment later, he moved to block a fist heading for his face. Jordan quickly thrust Lydia's fist down. "What was that for?" he grunted at her.

She smirked at him. "To get you to stop thinking," she said, right before she threw another punch.

The frustration that Jordan had quickly vanished and was replaced with a smirk of his own. "What, is this supposed to motivate me?" he asked, slightly amused.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "It's supposed to get you-" She then went to throw another punch but he blocked it again. "Stop" Another punch but he moved to avoid it. "Thinking," she finished before she threw a kick this time.

The kick managed to connect with his torso and got him to lose two steps. He then rose up to look at her. The smirk on Lydia was gone and she looked at him with a determined, challenging glint in her eye. Jordan straightened himself out and goaded her with come hither waves of his hands right before he moved into a defensive stance. A smile was stuck on his face but Lydia grunted at the sight as she charged.

Quickly, Lydia began throwing punch after punch. Jordan moved to duck from the first two blows before she made her third one connect as she drove herself forward at his chest. He lost a step and quickly moved to throw one of his own. Lydia rose her hands to block it like he had shown her and made a quick retaliating hand thrust at his shoulder. Jordan lost another step but managed to calmly straighten up and block the side kick Lydia quickly threw next. Jordan then moved to throw a kick of his own but pulled it back before Lydia could block it, revealing it a fake before he moved in. She tried to throw a punch but he caught her wrist. Lydia then tried to punch him with the other but he caught that one as well and cuffed them together as he went and pulled her right to him. They were then staring at each other, panting hard from both excitement and exhilaration. As they did, Jordan's eyes then began to glow their fiery orange hue. Lydia stared, her breath starting to slow a bit but Jordan quickly turned his head and looked off to his left, the glow fading away after a moment as he stared off. Lydia turned to look over herself and her breath got caught in her throat.

There was the Nemeton. The giant tree stump, plain as day. And all around it…corpses. Corpses of the bodies that had disappeared. The chimeras.

At the sight, Lydia figured that this was a good a time as any to tell Jordan the truth, and she did. After she was finished, Jordan began to freak as he moved to head back for his car, with Lydia right behind him.

"I need to call it in," he muttered frantically. "No, I need to turn myself in."

"I don't think that's a good idea," she said, moving to walk in step with him.

"You just told me that I'm the one taking the bodies. I've attacked other law enforcement officers. That's a criminal offense. Not to mention I could've killed the Sheriff's son, twice."

"It's okay, Stiles is actually more upset about what you did to his jeep over him," she said, trying to lighten the mood.

"This isn't funny. I shouldn't even be near you."

"I'm not afraid of you," she told him.

" _I'm_ afraid of me."

"Look, whatever's happening, it seems to only happen when there's a body. Other than that, you're still a pretty nice guy." On that, she didn't have a doubt. Here he was, after hearing the truth, and his overall concern wasn't about him, but about those he had hurt and who could hurt. "And a good deputy," she added.

"I'm a very good deputy. And I'd like to stay that way. Flipping over jeeps and attacking colleagues doesn't exactly fit with 'protect and serve'. I'm covering up the bodies of murdered teenagers."

"You're not covering them up." But then, she stopped walking, making him stop as well, as a thought suddenly came to her. "Actually…maybe you are."

"What?"

"It's the same thing that we asked Stilinski to do with Tracy. You're not covering up bodies, you're covering up the supernatural."

"What's the difference?"

"Maybe you're keeping the secret safe. Maybe, that's part of what you do. What you are."

"I'm a deputy," he cried out.

But she shook her head. "You're not just a deputy. And you aren't one of the bad guys."

"Lydia, you just showed me that my dream was real. But, you haven't heard the rest of it." That made her look him square in the eyes, and he found that he couldn't look back, and brought his gaze down. "Every time I carry a body to the Nemeton, I put it down and…add to the ones that are already there."

"How many?"

Jordan then moved to look back in her eyes. "Hundreds Lydia," he gasped. "Hundreds of them."

* * *

After they left the school, Liam and Hayden headed off towards Sinema. When they reached the door, Hayden got out her keys but looked back to see that Liam was checking his phone, again.

"Still no answer?' she asked, moving to unlock the door.

He let out a huff in aggravation. "No. I still can't reach Stiles."

"You think he can do something?"

Liam didn't know if Stiles could make a difference but, from how it sounded last night, he seemed to have some kind of a plan. Scott didn't seem to want to do it, whatever it was, but, Hayden was running out of time. If what Stiles had in mind could work, stop the Dread Doctors and save Hayden, then he would take Stiles' side. After all, Stiles had saved him and Scott before over six months ago. He might just be able to save Hayden too.

"Yeah," he nodded.

"Well, we can't just wait for him to call you back." Hayden then got the door open. "Right now, our best bet is just to leave town. The evening bus leaves in two hours, we can catch it."

"But we need money."

Hayden rolled her eyes. "Why do you think we're here?" she said, before pulling him inside.

The club was empty and Hayden led them off to behind the bar, where she removed the safety covering for the safe.

"You know the combination?" he asked as he watched her crutch down to the dial.

If she didn't, Liam could always use his wolf hearing to get it open like he saw Scott and Stiles do to Garrett's locker.

"12, 34, 56," she told him as she moved to open it.

Liam narrowed his eyes. 1-2-3-4-5-6? "But that's-"

"Yeah," she snorted. "Phil's an idiot." Hayden then flipped through the envelopes inside before she found her pay cut. "My sister's going to go out of her mind worrying about me." Her sister didn't know what was going on and if she just took off, she knew that she would freak.

"We'll come up with something to tell her," he said, consoling.

"How far do we have to go?"

"As far as it takes."

Hayden then stood up and faced him. "What if I turn out like Tracy? What if I hurt you?"

He just smiled. "I'm tougher than I look. I'll get over it. Besides, it's not like you haven't done that before."

That actually made Hayden break into a smile. Memories of their past came back. Of sixth grade, and recently when she punched him square in the face.

They stared at each other for a moment and, in the moment, moved to go and kiss. Their lips slowly rubbed against each other before it started to get a little deeper. Yet, Liam suddenly pulled back as soon as he heard himself let a moan loose.

"I'm sorry," he apologized as he quickly took a step back from her.

"No," Hayden said, shaking her head. "Is it Lori?"

"No," he quickly said. But then he deflated. "Yes?" he said, uncertain. Then he shook his head. "I don't know," he huffed irritably.

Honestly, Liam didn't know what was going on. He cared for Lori, and he liked her. But, he found that he liked Hayden a lot too. Maybe a part of him always had. He wondered if Mason might've had a point about him unable to resist falling for the girl he was trying to be the hero for.

But before either could get more lost in the awkwardness, the lights around them began to buzz and flicker. Then, the movie projector turned on, by itself, and began to stream a movie out in front of them.

"Oh god," Hayden gasped. "They're here.

Before they knew it, they began hearing the sound of heavy footsteps. Liam moved to pull Hayden close and they dove behind the bar. They stayed quiet as the sound was growing louder.

Soon enough, the Surgeon stepped out into sight and began to walk down the floor, scanning the room. His eyes fell to the bar and he moved towards it. For a moment, it seemed like he was going to leave but then he moved to whack at the bottles laid on top. He moved over to look behind the bar but saw that there was no one there.

Liam and Hayden had managed to sneak away and now were running for the exit but the way was blocked by the Geneticist. Before they could react, the doctor moved and threw a hard back hand at Liam, sending him flying to the floor. Hayden then turned to find herself being looked upon by the Surgeon. Quickly Liam got up and moved to attack the Surgeon, to get him away from her but the doctor thrust him arm out and hit him square in the chest, making him back up into the grasp of the Geneticist. The Geneticist then went and yanked Liam up from his jacket and threw him off to the other side of the room, landing on the hard stage floor.

"Run Hayden! Run!" he managed to yell out as he struggled to get back to his feet.

But Hayden was frozen in fear as now both the Surgeon and Geneticist were looking at her. The Geneticist started to close in for her, until a hard roar moved to stop him in his tracks. Everyone looked over and saw Scott standing to the side, fully shifted, letting his roar echo through the club. He quickly moved to leap and struck his claws out at the Geneticist but the doctor stepped back and completely avoided his attack. However, Scott used that moment to get to Hayden.

"Get back," he told her as he moved to face the doctor in front of him.

Liam grunted as he managed to get back to his feet, shifting himself, before he moved to attack the Surgeon, who had his back to him. He was a moment away of getting his claws into him, when the doctor's hand suddenly shot out and grabbed Liam's wrist, stopping him cold. Liam was then yanked forward and thrown off to the ground.

Scott readied himself to face the Geneticist. He had to do this. Show that the Dread Doctors could be stopped without having to resort to Stiles' insane plan. His plan to tap into the power of the Beast. They never needed it before, and Scott would prove that they didn't need it now. He charged and threw a hard punch at the Geneticist's masked head, but it barely shook the tower of a man. Scott then quickly sent a series of jabs at the man's chest, but they did nothing. He then went to try another jab at the man's head but the Geneticist caught Scott's wrist and sent his own jab right into Scott's torso. As he recoiled in pain, the doctor went and flipped him into the air and made him crash into the floor. Scott painfully grunted as his red eyes stared up into the man's mask, looking down at him with mild interest, as if he was barely worth his notice.

Hayden moved off to a corner, watching as Liam tried to attack the Surgeon again but not one blow was getting through. The Surgeon then grabbed Liam's head and started to bang him against one of the dancing poles set up nearby. After a handful of hits, Liam managed to slip away and tried to throw another hit but the Surgeon again caught him. He then went and threw Liam again but, this time, Liam managed to land on his feet. He tried to claw at the Surgeon's face mask but the doctor drew himself back and the claws barely missed touching him. The Surgeon then moved to thrust his metal gloved hand right into Liam's chest and the young werewolf flew off his feet and his back and head collided with another of the dancer poles and he slid down into the floor, spitting up some blood. Hayden was growing more afraid, seeing both werewolves flat on their backs, recoiling in pain. She quickly moved to run away.

The Geneticist then moved to try and strike at Scott but he moved to roll away and dodge them. When he moved to grab him, Scott brought his hands up to resist him. The Geneticist pushed, seeming to be reaching for Scott's neck, but Scott managed to pull his feet up and send a kick at the doctor's chest. It made him fall back a step but quickly recovered. Scott flipped himself to his feet and tried to go on the attack again. He landed two more blows but they seemed to have little effect. He then moved to throw a kick but the doctor moved to catch his ankle with both his hands. The Geneticist then pulled Scott forward and moved to flip him up into the air, making Scott land back into the ground, flat on his back with a painful howl.

Liam then felt hands grab him from behind and pull him up but he looked up to see that it wasn't a Dread Doctor, but a shifted Theo.

"Get Hayden out of here," he told him. "Go."

Liam watched for a moment as Theo moved to challenge the Surgeon and started sending some blows before he was pushed down to the ground. "Hayden!" he cried as he ran off, behind the screen. He then froze as he saw that Hayden was being held by the Pathologist, and he was injecting something into her neck. "No!" he roared out as the doctor then let her go, to fall limply down her knees.

The Pathologist then moved to make his leave and Liam moved right for Hayden. She was holding her neck, where the syringe had pierced her

Theo was still throwing some blows at the Surgeon, when the doctor caught his wrist and pulled him close.

"I need more time," Theo softly grunted to him.

" _The Perigee-Syzygy_ , _until then_ ," he responded.

Scott, dazed on the ground, barely made out the words. 'Perigee-Syzygy' distantly echoed in his ears as he blinked over to see Theo down on the ground. But he didn't see the others.

"Where's Liam?" he cried out.

The two of them pulled themselves to their feet and ran off to the back room where they found Liam kneeling at Hayden's side. They both seemed okay.

"I'm okay," she said to them, with a nod. She then looked over at Liam. "Really, I think I'm okay," she repeated for him.

Liam was still hysterically looking her over. He then turned and stood up to walk over to them. "I saw a needle go in. They injected her with something and, her eyes, they just filled up with mercury. They turned completely silver."

Theo moved his gaze over to her. "She looks okay. Maybe she'll heal."

"Or maybe she won't," Scott muttered.

That made both Theo and especially Liam look at him uncomfortably.

"What if something's happening to her, on the inside?" asked Liam.

Scott looked over and saw that Hayden was looking like she was getting more worried and scared. "Get them to the animal clinic," he said to Theo.

"Okay, but why?" he asked.

"I'll meet you there," he just said, before he moved to leave.

Scott passed by some of the damage left behind by the fight. They weren't able to stop them. He couldn't stop them. And he had no idea what to do. He needed time to think, and he knew that he wouldn't be able to with Liam's desperate eyes looking at him. There had to be something.

* * *

After the visit from Lydia Martin and the deputy, Zach had moved to start preparing to leave Beacon Hills. He packed up some clothes and a few other things he needed but saw that he needed some money.

He drove for the bank and headed off for the ATM close to the main entrance. The bank had closed roughly an hour ago so the parking lot was empty. Zach noticed that it now dark and there seemed to be no one around. He quickly pulled out his card and inserted it into the machine's slot. However, the machine went and sent it back out. He narrowed his eyes in confusion tried again. But the ATM sent it back out. He moved to try it a third time but it then spat it violently out, right to the floor. Zach then saw the ATM screen started to blink itself on and off repeatedly. It was starting to freak him out. Then there seemed to be some kind of crackling sound echoing in the air.

Just a few yards away, the three Dread Doctors were staring at him.

* * *

A/N: I hoped you liked this new chapter. I've decided that the fallout scene deserved to be in a very special chapter. One that revolves everything that will happen that night. The night before the day and night of the Supermoon. I'll try to have it up sooner than usual.

And remember, stay safe out there.


End file.
